Persona 4: The Chaos Within
by Raidou The 16th
Summary: Throwing Taro Namatame in the TV was the biggest mistake in Yu Narukami's life. To reverse that, he'll have to go through the the biggest hardship he has ever faced. Can he withstand the pressure? Can he keep himself together? Or will he break into a million pieces to match the reflection in the mirror? Persona 4's first bad ending with a whole lot of twists. Discontinued.
1. Murder One

**Hello guys, welcome to my story. Again. I decided to start it over, since I wanted to add new elements to the plot, turn some things around, make it more interesting. So, I hope you enjoy this new version. It'll have more mysteries. Oooooooh *waves fingers spookily*. Ahem. I don't own persona nor its characters. Read, review, tell me what you think, and, principally, enjoy.**

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**_\- Inaba municipal hospital-_**

"There's no way I'm forgiving that bastard! He killed three people and now he says he wants his freedom? No way I'm leaving this room without bringing justice upon that murderer!" Yosuke spat the sentence, pure rage flowing through his veins when he pointed towards Namatame as he would a diseased dog.

"W-wait, slow down, what do you mean by 'justice'? Yosuke..." Chie flinched at the thought. As lame as his jokes were, he was always there to lighten up any situation, not the contrary. And even though she, herself was always the one arguing and having those petty feuds with him, she wouldn't have him any way else.

She wouldn't love him any way else.

It seemed he never did return the feeling, and that alone hurt a lot, but to hear his voice twisted by anger like that... to see such hatred in his brown eyes...

She didn't recognize him anymore. She knew that she had to get her priorities straight, but she couldn't keep her mind away from those thoughts. Those were strong feelings that she was dealing with.

"Senpai, I know how you feel, but..." Rise expressed her concerns. She could put up quite the calm and clear-thinking facade in times of conflicts like this. That was one of the many things she'd learned in the showbiz: how to gain trust in an argument. She tried to cast aside her despair in order to try and get the group to use reasoning instead of their feelings, but her thoughts weren't as organized as she thought they should have been.

No, that couldn't be the answer, how did it come to that...

Were they even thinking about doing... that? It was just wrong! They had to stop it right now!

The doubts and conflicting thoughts in her mind made the words disappear from her mouth for a split second.

Time enough for Yosuke to cut her off and raise his voice again.

"Everyone, listen!" He demanded, stealing Rise's turn to speak. "This man killed three people. The law can't touch him, because no one would believe in our story. If we leave him be, he'll soon start 'saving' people again." His anger rose with each word. "That's just wrong, isn't it?! I know this is crazy, but it is something only we can do, and this is the only chance we'll get!"

"Yosuke-kun, please, listen to reason!" Yukiko pleaded, having enough of that madness. He had gone far enough, and it was time he realized how extreme and unnecessary his idea was. Was he really thinking of doing that? Was he really thinking of stooping as low as that murderer?

"Yukiko-san." He replied, turning somberly towards his partner's girlfriend. "If this man gets his freedom and ends up killing another person, will you own the responsibility of letting him free?"

Silence reigned in the room for the moment thereafter.

He got that she was afraid, but that was their duty. They had to put an end to that threat that the others still insisted to treat as a human.

The raven haired girl tried to think of a rebut for a while, but eventually lowered her head. He surely had a point had a point... But there had to be another way... She couldn't do it with her own hands... She just couldn't.

Yosuke read the disgusted frown of her eyebrows and sighed. They were wasting far too much time. "If any of you doesn't want to take part on this, leave now. I won't hate you for doing so. But then again, I'm not the one in position to judge, right now. But Yu, please, I beg you: stay here. I want to hear your opinion as the leader, and as the person I trust the most."

Silence, once more. Amidst the deafening absence of sound, Hanamura cast a glance towards Kanji and Naoto, in special, curious about their silence. It had persisted even before they stepped in Namatame's room. Really, none of the two said a word, what was wrong with them?

But for that moment, no one dared utter a word, for reasons different for each person.

Yukiko looked deep into Yu's eyes, in search for an answer. She could hold hours of conversation with him in only a second of eye contact. She needed a lead, a guide of some sort. Hell, even something or someone to take responsibility for her actions would be fine. But for the first time, his eyes told her nothing. They just remained there, reflecting her image like a soulless mirror. Eventually, he mouthed 'I need to talk with him'. She was frustrated, verily so, but she just nodded slightly and chose to take her leave.

"Yosuke, I..." Chie started, but never finished. Yosuke just stood there, with a stare that pierced her very soul. His whole presence was screaming 'Get out of here'. He had been looking at her since he finished his speech, and if she knew better, she'd have realized that he was concerned for her. But she didn't. She didn't know what to do, her mind was a mess. Before she could even think about it, her body was already moving forward...

And slapping his cheek.

She had to vent her indecision and frustration on something.

While his head was still facing away, Chie just whispered a shy 'I'm sorry'. Yosuke didn't even turn to face her when he said "... just go". She then glanced at Yu's way, and in turn he just nodded, saying 'Do it.' With that, she lowered her head and left.

Kanji was feeling... nothing. He just felt really numb. The best friends, if not the only ones he had in his entire life, were there, thrown into that situation. He looked at Yu, then at Yosuke, who had already straightened himself up, then back at the gray haired leader.

"I trust you, man. I know you'll do the right thing." He said to the leader of the group, with a half-confident smirk on his face. Confidence was something he did not have at that moment, however. He was ready to leave the decision up to Yu. Not with the intent of pinning the blame and responsibility of a possible wrong choice on him, but with the faith that he had learned to put on his Senpai.

"I... have yet to reach that answer... Sorry, Kanji." Yu averted his eyes and responded, unable to reassure him. He was usually good at putting up a leader's personality, but that time, he'd just be lying to himself and his friend if he said he knew the answer.

Kanji just stared in disbelief. what help would he be of, if even their fearless leader didn't have the answer?He just looked away and left.

Naoto's face was indifferent and contemplative, but it was really just a bluff. Inside, she was deeply hurt. She was really seeing Yosuke's point. But... was this the truth they sought? Did her short journey as a detective lead her to commit such crime for the sake of justice? And Nanako-chan... she was so mature, independent and strong at such young age... She shouldn't have been the one to go. Was it always going to be like this? Was she always going to lose those dear to her and have to make such difficult decisions? If it was, she didn't want this kind of life anymore. She left.

Rise was in the verge of tears. 'I love you guys soooo much', she said back then, after they rescued her. And now, the fate they saved her from was being wished upon someone else...? Sure, that person was a murderer, himself, but was that really the right thing to do? Why was Nanako-chan dead, when that... scumbag was still alive? Was it really in their hands to deliver this kind of justice?

Was that even justice?

All those contradicting thoughts were waging war inside her, with her heart was the battlefield. Crying, she left, without looking back.

And then, only Yu, Yosuke and Namatame were left in the room.

Yosuke took a deep breath, before turning towards his partner. "...You and I both know the best how much this man took from every one of us. I lost the one I loved, we lost Nanako, because of him, Dojima-san is hurt, and I am sure someone cared enough about Yamano to be grieving upon her death, even to this day. That Mitsuo kid even tried to copy him, and killed King Moron!"

He realized that he was raising his voice again, and cleared his throat before continuing. It was hard to keep calm...

"As I said earlier, the law can't touch him, because even if we told the police what happened, they would never believe us, and you know that. So it all comes down to a simple solution: we push him into the TV and it's all over. No need to worry about him coming back, no need to keep our guards up at all times... it'll be truly over." Yosuke tried to persuade his partner to the best of his ability. It was the right thing to do, he had to agree with him. That'd be the end of everything! "You are the leader, I'll follow whatever you decide to do. So, what will it be?"

Yu then looked at Namatame, who was nearly digging a hole in the ground with his fingernails. His bloodshot eyes were staring at the floor and his teeth were clenched together. Then the leader turned his eyes back to his partner, whose face was sober. It seemed he had no doubts in his mind.

Narukami took a brief pause to think about everyone: Yukiko, Chie, Kanji, Rise, Teddie (who they hadn't seen since they left Nanako's room), Naoto, his uncle Dojima, Nanako, his friends... even the Velvet Room's inhabitants.

That was a tough decision. In fact, 'tough' was a huge understatement. That was going to change his life and stain his hands forever. Time seemed to stop as those million thoughts passed through his mind.

That was wrong, but what Namatame did was on another level. Even Dojima was willing to go that far.

But he still had one last thing to consider before making his final choice...

Yu closed in on the man, knelt to his eye level, grabbed him by the collar, and, blank faced, stared into his dark grey eyes.

They told him of agony, angst, discontentment, remorse and most of all, fear, as his eyes darted in all directions, subconsciously looking for an escape.

He despaired to find a way out of that situation. He was about to jump out of the window when the group came into the room, for God's sake. Yu kept trying to read his soul for long fifteen seconds, as Yosuke watched idly by.

His desire for freedom must have come from the fear of the incoming punishment for his crimes. That was what Yu saw.

Then, at 11:58 pm, the rain stopped. He had made his decision.

Verdict: guilty.

"Let's throw the bastard in."

"I knew you'd make the right choice, partner." Yosuke pitched in with a smirk. Finally, it was coming to an end.

Namatame's eyes widened and became even more bloodshot than before. He tried to claw his way out of the window, but was stopped by Yu grabbing him by the collar of his hospital gown.

"Grab his legs." he told Yosuke.

The brunette nodded and did just that. He took a hold of Namatame's ankles and helped Yu pull him back into the room. He couldn't contain himself, and split his legs apart before punting him in his manhood with all the might he could gather. He couldn't even scream, as the pain took his voice away.

Yu was about to reprimand his friend, but decided against it. The brunette took the hair from in front of his eyes and helped bring Namatame over to the big television in the room.

"You ready?" Yosuke asked, as he pushed the man's head into the TV.

That was Narukami's last chance to go back on his actions and think things over. He hesitated for a moment. Some pieces were still missing in the puzzle...

But even then, all leads pointed to him being the culprit. There was no doubt in his mind, anymore.

He nodded to his partner, and they both made the last effort to push Namatame into the TV world.

After he completely disappeared into the screen, Yosuke fell back and sat on the ground, panting hard. That was the most important moment of his life... he had just avenged the people that man had murdered. No words could express what he was feeling.

Yu put his hands on his knees, before running a hand through his hair. He had surely done the right thing, without a doubt, but... what was that feeling weighing him down? It was like... it felt a bit like remorse, but not quite. He couldn't describe the sentiment.

After that, he helped Yosuke up to his feet and they left the room before the guards came back.

They also tried to go to Dojima's room to tell him about the occurred, but visitation time had long since past. Truly a shame... he would be proud to know that Namatame was dealt with.

With a heavy silence, they walked together back to their houses. When the time to part ways came, they faced each other. They didn't wave each other goodbye, or did a friendly handshake. They just stood there, waiting for the first word.

And it never came, as Yu was the first to look away and began to walk his way with his head hanging low and his goodbye unsaid. He still couldn't get over that unnamed feeling.

Yosuke just watched him walk away for a moment before shaking his head. He understood that his friend suffered irreparable losses, but he couldn't bring himself to share his pain in the face of the accomplishment they had just reached. He looked up to the dark sky.

That was it. They did it.

It was all over.

He felt a drop of rain fall near his eye. That was when he snapped out of his daze and entered his house.

No one in the group, except for Naoto, managed to sleep that night.

...

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**A/N from the future: Worked on this chapter again. I dunno, was fun. Hopefully got rid of the little mistakes and added a few neat tweaks. Will prolly do that to most chapters before 29, so yeah. That's happening. Thanks y'all for the support, and if you're a new reader, please, do share your thoughts. o/ **

**Welp, first chapter's done. Again, leave your critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th... and I approve this message *thumbs up*. See y'all next chapter.**


	2. The Devil

**A/N: Hello guys. Welcome to another chapter. I used to answer reviews back in the old story, might as well answer them here, too. **

**Clear Chaos: Well, thank you very much. That's pretty much I aim for, to make people relate and feel touched by the scenes. Glad you enjoyed it. **

**The Blue Lights: Yeah, I do try to look out for every mistake, but hey, they happen still. With time I'll (hopefully) commit less and less mistakes, and the story will be much cleaner and easier to read. Glad you believe the characters' thought, it means that I did a decent job at least in someone's eyes. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well.**

**Asher Grey: And here's another update. :D**

**Nightly7: Thanks, I'll try to keep it up, indeed.**

**As always, I don't own anything, not the game, not the company, not the character, I do this solely for entertainment. Well, on with the chapter.**

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Yu got up early in the in the morning. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes after what happened yesterday. Although it was Saturday, he wasn't planning on going to school. In the slightest.

He descended the stairs to the living room without changing his clothes. He didn't even eat breakfast. He just just sat on the couch and... cried.

Weeped upon the loss of his beloved cousin, upon what he did, everything, everyone. His heart was so heavy at that moment, each beat made him want to sob more.

He didn't even know what time it was when his cell phone rang. He cleared his throat and tried to answer the call.

"Hello?" He answered, voice still a bit quivery.

"Hey it's Yosuke. You didn't go to school either, huh."

"Yeah." He said, before painfully clearing his throat. "Sorry... did the others go?"

"Strangely enough, Chie of all people was asking me if I was going. I thought she was mad at me, but apparently not. Apparently. That aside, you wanna hang out today? I wanna clear my mind of all that, if that's even possible."

Maybe some fresh air would clear his lungs from all of that pain. Yeah, one afternoon walking around, and everything would go away...

Who was Yu kidding? None of that would leave his mind so easily. But he could try.

"Okay, sure." He answered.

Pause.

"Yu?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"... No"

"Me, neither."

Silence.

Yu held back the urge to sigh on his side of the line. Glad to know that he wasn't the only one who was a mess. Not. "When do we meet?"

"One pm, at the riverbed."

"Okay. See ya later." Narikami hung up. Yosuke seemed pretty sober over the phone, despite his words. It was funny how disaster changed people. It seemed his friend was becoming a better bluffer. He couldn't decide whether that was good or bad, but frankly? That was only because he could care less about that.

After that, he went to wash his tear stained face. His reflection in the mirror disgusted him. He was in shambles, reduced to ruins and debris by the irreparable losses.

He ate whatever he could for lunch, wore his casual clothes and headed to the meeting place.

**-Samegawa Riverbed-**

Yosuke was waiting there, sat on the bench with his pack by his side when his friend strolled in his direction.

"Yo," he greeted while Yu silently took his seat.

He pushed through the silence and continued. "... look what I've got." He said, before grabbing a bottle of Sake and two glasses from his pack.

Narukami raised an eyebrow at that. While he examined his partner's face, he also noticed that he had very dark rings around his eyes, some scratch marks on his cheek and a red hand mark on his face.

"Where'd you get t-" He was deciding whether to reprimand Yosuke for offering him booze, or ask him about those marks, but he frankly didn't find enough will to care about either. "... you know what, just pour me a glass already."

The brunette did just that, and then proceeded to fill his own glass.

"Ack, this tastes awful," Yu said as he reached half of the contents of his glass...

And then quickly downed the rest, only to shake his head a little with the heat that the drink brought upon his chest.

"Hey, Yu... didja hear already?" Yosuke asked. He was already starting to regret even starting the subject.

"What?"

Hanamura hesitated. He fidgeted a bit, but finally decided to spill the beans. He was going to find out one way or the other. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to throw the verbal rock at Yu's head.

"They found Naoto dead at the Shirogane state this morning."

At that point, Narukami had halted completely with shock.

What the Hell did he just say?

Yosuke seemingly didn't notice that, and continued.

"Word is, she killed herself."

...

That broke Yu's limit.

"Fuck!" Frivolous, he shot up to his feet as the words hit his ears. Wrath pushed him to kick the bench out of rage, but he mistakenly ended up hitting Yosuke's shin instead.

Hard.

Ask him if he cared, though.

"Shit!" He swore again, pacing about impatiently as the already bruised teenager held his shin in pain.

"Why?" He grabbed the brunette by the collar. "Why?!" Nothing stopped him from lifting the guy by the collar, taking his feet a few inches off the ground as he spat the question in his face.

"... it's not my fault..." Yosuke said nonchalantly despite the pain and his migraine, as he avoided his enraged friend's eyes. He wasn't sure whether he could hear anyone else repeating the word 'why' over and over again without snapping.

"It is!" Yu yelled.

"Then it's yours, too." He responded as calmly as he could, this time looking straight into Narukami's eyes.

His rage slowly subsided and he finally let go of Hanamura, who fell back with his behind on the bench.

"Dammit, why?!" He asked no one in particular, as he ran a hand down his face. "We did the right thing, didn't we? Why did she have to go and do that?!"

"Maybe she couldn't take it. We committed a heavy crime... I just didn't think she'd go that far." The brunette stated, almost matter-of-factually.

"And why are you so God damned calm? Huh?!" Yu questioned. Seriously, his nonchalance was infuriating!

That broke Yosuke's limit.

"... Do you know how destroyed I am?"

He suddenly broke the bottle, got up and pointed its sharp remains at Yu's face.

"Do you have any idea of how much I cried today, even before I heard about that? Rise was the one who came knocking at my door to tell me. At the time I couldn't even cry. And I tried! She got angry, and then beat the shit out of me because of that!"

He forcefully tug his headphones away from his neck using his free hand, revealing several scratch marks, some of them still red, along with signs of suffocation. "I don't think I can even cry, anymore. So, if you wanna face me about it, I'm warning ya: You are not a girl. I'll be more than happy to vent all my frustration on you!" His voice was raspy, but not with anger. Instead, it was full of angst.

Yosuke was really starting to become a better bluffer, huh? And that's where those marks came from...

Caring little about his realizations, Yu pushed the broken bottle away from his face and was about to shove his fist down the brunette's throat...

But that was just going to make things worse.

He let out a heavy sigh and sunk back in the bench.

"I'm sorry, man." Narukami apologized, supporting his head on his hands. Yosuke lowered his head and shrugged.

"It's alright." He said, as he dropped the broken bottle to his side and sat back on the bench.

With that, they stayed quiet for a while, with the smell of Sake lingering about.

...

"Hey, can I sit there?" They heard the voice of a male asking from the bottom of the stairs.

Yu looked in the man's direction. He was fairly tall, had pale skin, blond slicked back hair, and a beard that followed his jawline. He wore an open white jacket which had two horizontal black stripes on its mid section over a plain grey t-shirt, blue pants and brown shoes. He also had a pendant that seemed to be a spade dangling from a collar around his neck. Maybe he was in his middle age... he appeared as old as his uncle.

"Crap... hide the bottle away!" Yu hissed.

His friend was about to hastily do so when the man interrupted. "No, no. It's alright. No need to hide it. In fact..."

He took a bottle of a western wine out his purse. "If you don't mind, would you care to drink a little more with me?" He asked with a small smile.

... Huh. That was not expected.

The two teens looked at each other, and agreed to let him sit with them. The latter quickly dropped his own pack to the side.

"Can I ask your names?" The man broke the ice as he took his seat.

"Name's Yu. This here is Yosuke."

The man quickly popped another question. "Why were you guys drinking? It doesn't seem like you were doing it for fun." He asked as he uncorked his bottle with a rather shiny corkscrew.

"What's it to you?" Yosuke quickly retorted. Less than three minutes sitting in that bench and he already wanted to know too much.

"I'm pretty much doing the same, so I'm interested." The man asked again, already pouring his first cup of wine. That was quite the cup, actually. It was probably made out of silver, given how shiny it was.

"Why don't you tell us your story first, then?" Yu asked.

"Hm. Fair enough. You see, my father owns a really big company. He naturally wanted me and my younger brother to take part in the family's business. My brother accepted it without a problem, but I've always had plans to live a life of my own, so I refused. My father got really angry..."

He took a sip before continuing. "He kicked me out of the house right there and then. That hit me the wrong way, 'cause he was always so kind... it kinda tore me up. I had to live at a friend's house until I got things covered up, which didn't take too long. Soon, I managed to get an apartment, a car, and even got to open up a shop with his help. At first, I was proud of it, but then..."

He chugged directly from the bottle "...my old man started to bug me about it like, everyday. We even argued directly once, but he put me back in my place. Apparently, my brother did something big, and now my father is always trying to find any and every possible way to brag about the fact that my brother is better than me, and whatnot. To take a break from all this, I left the shop to my friend's care, and went on a little vacation. So... here I am." he finished with a wry smile.

"Hm. Cool story, bro..." Yosuke stated dismissively, slurring his words a bit. His story was cool and all, but theirs... theirs was a story of justice, vengeance, regret, and a bunch of other feelings.

Did that just pass through his head? Maybe all the booze from today and last night had finally managed to hit him. He didn't care, though.

"I guess it's you guys' turn, now." The man said.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" It was Yu's turn to ask. Despite the concern that his words expressed, the tone he used managed to pass the message across as a threat of sorts...

"Wouldn't have told mine if I didn't." ... Which went right over the man's head.

Narukami sized the man up from head to toe. His speech didn't show it, but he was actually pretty drunk. His head was even swaying a little from side to side. Then he looked at the bottle of wine... and it was nearly empty.

Dammit, they didn't even get a sip of that... wine was awesome...

Meh, why not. He'd forget it in the morning, anyway. "Okay, but promise you won't tell anyone."

"You've got my word." He raised his right hand.

"You see, in this town, four people died. One of them was the girl that Yosuke liked, and my little cousin was one of the victims, too." Yu started.

Yosuke was still giving the man the stinker eye, but he was going to roll with it for now.

"Me, my friend here, and some other people were the only ones who could figure out who was the culprit behind those deaths, because we knew witnesses." He continued.

"Why didn't you tell the police?" The man asked.

"Because the police deemed the witnesses as unstable and disregarded their testimonies." Yu lied. He shrugged before continuing. "... So, after months of investigation, when my cousin was the one being targeted and kidnapped, we managed to corner the the culprit. We fought, and both him and my cousin were sent to the hospital, but..."

He tried to search for an euphemism.

"... after a while, she didn't resist. We found out that the culprit was in the same hospital. We went to find out where his room was, and found the door unguarded, because my uncle had tried to break in, and the guards had to take him back to his room. This was our only chance to do what was right, so..." He wasn't really sure how to finish the sentence.

"We entered and killed him." Yosuke stated blankly, with his head hung low as he supported his elbows on his knees.

Narukami threw an annoyed glance at him.

"... Oh." Was all the man had to say.

Yu cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure before continuing. "Even now, we question ourselves whether it was the right thing to do. One of our friends apparently couldn't take the burden, and... left the group. Now, we're here, trying to forget all that by drinking."

Some seconds of silence followed that. Eventually, the man chugged down the rest of the wine.

"... I think you did the right thing."

Both teens looked at the man, in shock.

"You remained true to yourselves, and averted a possibly greater danger, but..."

Pause.

The man closed his blue eyes, and when he opened them again, his left eye turned red.

"... you missed something," He said, showing the ghost of a smile on his face.

As he got up to leave, he looked completely sober. He snapped his fingers, seemingly making the bottle, the glass, and the corkscrew disappear. As he picked up his purse, Yu and Yosuke quickly got up and blocked his way.

"I knew we couldn't trust you! What the Hell do you mean we missed something?" Yosuke questioned, taking an aggressive stance.

"You haven't told us your name yet. Who are you?" Yu barked the question.

The man chuckled. "That's right, I never really introduced myself, did I?" He asked, and then began to casually walk towards Yosuke.

The boy readied a wild swing at his face. The man then vanished, and immediately appeared behind him with his back turned. The brunette released his punch too late, and ended up losing his balance due to the momentum. Narukami managed to catch him before he fell face first on the ground, however.

"My name is Louis Cyphre. Let's just leave it at that, for the time being."

With that, the man climbed up the stairs out of the river bed, and when he got to the last step, he looked back at the two. "Until we meet again. Farewell." He said, before completely disappearing.

They ran towards the spot were the man had once been and found two crimson keys with a spade for a head, and a club as the code. Both of them had name tags, one with Yu's name written on it, and the other with Yosuke's.

For a few seconds, they remained silent.

What the Hell?

How the Hell?

And more importantly, who the Hell?

"Yosuke?"

"What?"

"It's not over yet..."

"Yeah, I know." Yosuke said, frustrated.

They had just put an end to a mystery... Why was that happening to them? Would they ever be free?

He groaned. "But we'll get to the bottom of this, right?"

"I sure do hope so." Yu replied, contemplating what just happened.

Yosuke smiled weakly. At least he had his partner to count on.

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**A/N from the future: Another chapter revised. Hopefully it became a more enjoyable read. **

**A/N: Second chapter's done. Hope you liked the changes, and hope you liked the chapter, if that's your first time reading it. See you guys next chapter.**


	3. Twist Of Fate: Fortune

**Hello again, and welcome to another chapter. I would answer reviews, if there were any. Anyways, if you have read the original CE, well... this is one of THOSE chapters. If you haven't, well, good read. Hope you enjoy it. **

**I don't own persona, smt, or nothing. Now that that's out of the way, let's get this started**

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Naoto's face was indifferent and contemplative, but it was really just a bluff. Inside, she was deeply hurt. She was really seeing Yosuke's point. But... was this the truth they sought? Did her short journey as a detective lead her to commit such crime for the sake of justice? And Nanako-chan... she was so mature, independent and strong at such young age... she shouldn't have been the one to go. Was it always going to be like this? Was she always going to lose those dear to her, and have to make such difficult decisions? If it was, she didn't want this kind of life anymore. She left.

But stopped as soon as she closed the door behind her. Maybe all was not lost. She hadn't made up her mind entirely, but she felt like she could trust that Yu was going to do the right thing. And something was nagging at the back of her head... maybe... but she wasn't sure.

Then she heard Rise crying, and the sound was getting closer. Naoto then made haste to hide in the adjacent corridor and waited until Rise's footsteps were not so loud. She poked her head out of her hiding spot to see Rise running while wiping her tears.

Naoto understood her... she must have bean facing heavy doubts... After she made sure that Rise was far enough, she quickly got out of her cover and stood closer to the door. She pressed her ear against the door and heard Yosuke saying:

"Yu... you and I both know the best how much this man took from every one of us. I lost the one I loved, we lost Nanako, because of him Dojima-san is hurt, and I am sure someone cared enough about Yamano to be grieving upon her death, even to this day. That Mitsuo kid even tried to copy him, and killed King Moron! As I said earlier, the law can't touch him, because even if we told the police what happened, they would never believe us, and you know that."

Yes, it was true that the police couldn't do anything. She was one of the people who could attest to that fact. Hell, the police was nearly discarding Namatame as a suspect, because they couldn't get anything 'straight' out of him. They had their hands tied.

Yosuke spoke again: "So it all comes down to a simple solution: we push him into the TV and it's all over."

His words managed to strike fear on her. Even though he was not screaming, and even though she was still in the outside of the room, his tone passed all of his negative feelings across.

He was dead set on doing it...

But at the same time, his choice of words clicked something inside her. Something was not right there, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. One thing was certain though:

They were missing something.

"No need to worry about him coming back, no need to keep our guards up at all times... it'll be truly over. You are the leader, I'll follow whatever you decide to do. So, what will it be?"

After that, there was silence.

Yosuke really had a point... but just thinking about it sent chills down Naoto's spine. But she still had doubts... that nagging feeling insisted in staying.

Inside the room, Yu was thinking about what to do.

Naoto was trying to figure out what was it they were missing.

Yu knelt down to Namatame's eye level.

Naoto was asking herself why was Namatame so shaken? Shouldn't he have been relieved that he succeeded on 'saving' Nanako-chan?

There was still silence.

She was still trying to reason out that inconsistency. In fact, when they faced Namatame in the TV world, He said 'You are the ones I saved'. If salvation was death in his visions, shouldn't he have failed to save the ones he kidnapped? She heard the suspect yelp from inside the room, then nothing else. It was all on her, at that moment. She had to figure that out quickly, before Yosuke and Yu decided to go through with the former's plan.

If Namatame did not see death as salvation, why would he throw the one he loved into the TV? It made no sense.

As for the second victim, Saki Konishi... if he tried to save her and failed, he was likely never to use the TV again.

Unless...

Unless someone else killed the first victims.

Then he started to use the TV to save the ones he kidnapped... Since they always got out safely, he never stopped throwing people in the TV world, believing that he himself saved them!

Yes! That was it! Joy, hope and confidence were starting to fill her thoughts. Now, she just needed to form an argument to convince Yu and Yosu-

"Let's throw the bastard in," she heard Yu saying.

"I knew you'd make the right choice, partner," Yosuke's voice followed soon after.

Naoto froze, dumbfounded. She completely forgot that she was running out of time. The muffled screams, and the sound that came from the other side of the door only served to deepen her state of shock. And the distinctive sound of the portal to the TV world being crossed made her knees wobble.

She... failed.

After some seconds, she heard footsteps coming from inside the room, which broke her out of her daze if only for a brief moment. She quickly hid in the same spot from earlier and waited for Yu and Yosuke to go away.

She poked her head out of her hiding spot, after making sure that she was not hearing any other footsteps.

She lowered her head and bit her bottom lip.

There she was... hiding again.

Why did she always have to hide from everything?

She hurried out of the hallway before the guards returned. She did not know how she was going to explain that situation.

Once she judged herself out of the danger zone, though, she stopped paying attention to her steps and bumped into Adachi, who was also not paying attention to where he was going.

Naoto adjusted her cap. "Oh... forgive me, Adachi-san," she apologized, still downtrodden.

He straightened back his suit. "Nah, no big deal."

Actually, yes big deal.

She was already walking past him, but he had to ask her something.

"Hey, Shirogane-san."

She turned around. "What is it?"

"Where are your friends? I saw Amagi-san leaving alone, before, but I didn't see anyone else. I thought you all were going to leave together, or something..." he asked.

Hmmm... think, Naoto, think...

"Oh. That... we decided to look after Namatame, since you and the guards were busy with Dojima-san, but Yukiko's help was requested at her family's inn. We remained there, but Namatame suddenly jumped at us. Not even Kanji-kun could hold him back, so we decided to go look for you, assuming that you were returning, already. That was not the case, however, so I went back to check on the room... and found no one there. The window was open. I haven't seen the others since, so I was searching for one of you, again. I'm sorry..." Naoto tipped her hat down.

She was horrible at lying when she was nervous...

Adachi's eyes widened at that. "What?! He escaped?!"

"I'm afraid so..." she lied poorly, so now she had to cut her losses and carry on. "I can help you search for him... he mustn't have gone that far..."

The older detective almost cut her off. "Nononono!" he said as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

... What?

"I'll go get help. You go home and get some rest. I can see the bags under your eyes... you're tired."

She didn't get it... he was letting her off the hook, just like that?

Naoto, however, was not about to miss the chance. "... Yes, you are right. Thank you."

"Rest assured! We'll take care of that!" Adachi saluted with a goofy grin.

She just nodded back. "Good night, Adachi-san" she turned around and left.

... There she was, lying again.

Why did she always have to lie about everything?

After that, she walked silently out of the hospital. She could feel raindrops on her hands, and on her face as she looked up at the cloudy sky. Which made her remember...

It was all over...

She had failed...

The people up there where she was looking at must have been really disappointed.

She sighed, and began to stroll back home, each step heavier than the last, her head lowered and her eyes wet all the way.

**-Shirogane State-**

Upon entering her house, she turned on the lights. Her grandfather was on a business trip, so she was all alone in the household. She was hungry, but she could care less.

She went straight upstairs to her room and cried all the tears she'd been holding. Why was she crying, not even she herself could answer.

Maybe because of everything.

Too many choices, too much pressure, too many deaths...

So much she was guilty of...

She was supposed to not let that kind of thing get to her, but she was pushed far beyond her breaking point, that night.

After an hour or so, she stopped crying. Not even her tears could drive her to sleep.

She began thinking: why was she a detective? All those years looking up to those 'cool' guys that solved every kind of crime, all the time spent on reading novels and watching movies, all the time spent on learning how to act and behave like a detective, the realization that made her dress like a man, the strength to carry on after the adults treated her like a child, the strange murder case that suddenly popped on her desk one day...

All of that... a huge waste of time.

She didn't want that kind of life, anymore. She wasn't up to such huge responsibility. She was led to believe that was her vocation because she grew under such fine examples of detectives, but... that life was not for her.

She failed way too many times.

She didn't get it, though...

She had the wisdom, the wits, the knowledge, even the guts, but she still let innocent people die.

In fact, she even put her friends in trouble, all because she wanted to prove her deductions and theories. Because she tried to reason with Namatame back in the TV world, Nanako stayed there more time than she should have. Because she didn't come up with an argument in time, he died before she could get anything out of him.

Maybe she should have just barged in the hospital room to stop Yu and Yosuke.

Maybe she herself should have been the one to tackle Namatame when they were rescuing Nanako.

But alas, she couldn't.

She could only try to use reason because she was too uncertain, too afraid of what would happen if she didn't. Try to use reason was the only thing she could do, she was the wisdom of the team. It was like that even in her social life... she couldn't say anything... no... she couldn't take a step without thinking about every possible effect it could have, under every possible circumstance.

But in the end, all of that was useless. None of that mattered.

She still failed. Many times.

Then it hit her:

... Maybe she, herself, was useless.

She was nothing but a burden, now that she thought about it. She was only there to slow them down... The team would probably be better off without her.

All her lifetime she aimed to become something, and when she could finally say that she reached her objective, it was all for nothing... 15 years down the drain, like that.

The path she had chosen and took pride on was useless...

Waste of time... regret... time was never going to give her a chance to retrace her steps... her years would forever remain like that... useless.

Now would be the time to look into the future, but... she was good at nothing else. She had no other skills... she had jumped at the dream of becoming a detective so blindly and proudly, the thought of devising a plan B never even crossed her mind.

What was she going to do now?

Never once was she so afraid of her future. What was going to become of her?

She could choose another path, but... what if she wasted another 15 years of her life in something useless, again?

Was she going to live her whole life without finding a purpose?

Was she always going to live under that uncertainty?

... Would her uncertainty hurt someone else in the future?

She couldn't think of anything...

It'd be so easier if she could just run away from it all... run away from her uncertain future...

The lack of control over her future steps was an agonizing pain. She always had everything under control, but as quickly as that, she'd lost the reins of her own life.

The strings in her heart were being pulled apart by each thought that crossed her mind.

But wait...

There was a way out...

She actually could escape from her future.

Her mind went blank and her heart stopped for a moment. She took the revolver out of her pocket. She stared at it for some long seconds, as she recalled what she thought earlier.

'She was useless'

'She had wasted all of her life for nothing'

'She had failed so many people'

'She had no hope for her future'

...

Then nothing else.

...

**-Inaba Municipal Hospital-**

Adachi turned around as soon as Shirogane left. That was too good to be the truth! He had to see it with his own eyes.

He saw cleanly through her lies. He could tell that all that bullshit was just to hide the fact that something happened while they were there. And Adachi had an idea of what transpired in that room, but he needed to confirm it as truth.

Those slow clowns were still taking care of Dojima, and thought that Shirogane and the kids were taking care of Namatame. Blame the shortage on staff, or they just wanted to make sure that Dojima was okay, whatever. Adachi didn't care.

He finally reached the empty room, and the first thing he did was test his theory.

He poked his head into the TV.

Dark gray clouds, a giant red cross, a majestic throne, and a floor with paintings of numerous crowns of thorns on the ground and walls, were the things Adachi saw in his surroundings.

But more importantly, he saw Namatame's unconscious body, right in the middle of the room, in front of the cross.

Adachi had a wide grin plastered on his face.

He couldn't believe it.

The kids really did it!

He heard some growling coming closer... multiple Shadows started approaching Namatame.

If he could, Adachi would summon a bucket of popcorn at that moment.

But something was strange...

He was feeling a much more overwhelming presence, and it was not coming from any of those shadows...

And it was fast approaching.

Suddenly, what looked like a beast with numerous heads, and wearing crowns fell from the sky.

Adachi closed his eyes to shield his eyeballs from the dust that kicked up.

When he opened them again, he saw a lady, who was apparently riding the beast come down from its back.

He managed to get a glimpse of her 'face'...

... It wasn't a pretty sight.

But he kept watching the scene, enthralled.

The lady approached Namatame, squatted down next to him, and rested his head upon her lap.

Adachi didn't understand what was going on, anymore.

She started caressing the unconscious man's cheek, and stroke his hair softly, but then...

But then...

He stared wide eyed at the scene.

And then laughed uncontrollably.

Oh, man... that was a horrible way to go.

He wiped a tear and brought his head back out of the TV.

That. Was. Awesome!

He made a mental note to thank the kids for that, one day, as stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the scene.

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**Aaaand done rewriting this chapter. I changed a lot of stuff... seriously. And made it a little darker, I guess. *squints* A little. The review box is right down there for you to leave your opinions, critics, flames, compliments, whatever you want, I'm Raidou the 16th... And I'll se y'all in the next chapter.**


	4. Sanctuary

**Hello again, guys. Welcome to another chapter. This follows the same day that chapter two left at. Now, to answer the reviews.**

**afterados: THANK YOU MAN YOU ARE AWE- *ahem* Thank you for the compliments. Making characters convincing is one of my biggest (paranoia) worries, so if I manage to deliver characters that people can understand, then I am happy. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story. **

**Stofen: Yep, you're right. That was one of the main flaws of the original one, but as you can see, it's fixed, now... at least I hope so. Glad you enjoy the rewrite. **

**Hawkeye Reticle: Yeah, little errors here, and there... my grammar is not perfect, as much as it should be, and I'm more concerned about the imagery, most of the time, so yeah... that's a problem I have to take care. But I'm glad the chapter managed to strike your feels.**

**I don't own anything, blahblahblah, on with the chapter. **

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**-Souzai Daigaku-**

Yu and Yosuke decided to take a break from asking around. They were trying to gather information about the mysterious man named Louis Cyphre, but only learned that he wasn't from Inaba. Gathering info was pretty much the only thing they could do at the moment. With the way he disappeared, that man could have been from outer space, for all they were counting on.

The two teenagers took a seat, and Yosuke broke the silence.

"Steak croquette, please." he ordered from his seat. After straightening up and crossing his arms, he turned towards his partner. "You came across anything?"

"No, nothing." he answered. "He's not from Inaba apparently... like we didn't know that."

"I got the same." the brunette replied as his meal arrived. He shrugged off the look she gave at his scars. He would have thanked her, if he wasn't so worried. "... You won't order anything?" he asked Yu.

"I'm not hungry." he replied tiredly.

Yosuke looked at him with concern. He was really torn by all that's happened, wasn't he? Yosuke, himself was taking that pretty hard, even though he was really making an effort not to let that get in the way of his thoughts and actions. But... maybe he didn't get how much his friend was suffering.

"Hey... you don't need to stay here watching me eat, man. If you want some time to think about things, I'm not trying to hold you down..." he offered. He wasn't trying to shoo his partner off, or anything of the kind. He was just concerned.

"Thanks, but I think I'll get more than enough alone time when I get home..." Yu answered, looking away.

Yosuke cringed.

Smooth.

Maybe it'd be best for him to shut up.

And so, they spent the rest of the afternoon in silence. When it started getting dark, the two went their opposite ways.

**-Dojima Household-**

As Yu took off his shoes to enter the house, his cell phone vibrated. It was a message from Yukiko, saying that Naoto was dead.

It was as if the gods were trying to stick salt in his wounds.

He replied: 'I already know. Yosuke told me," and was about to shove his phone back in his pocket, when another message came.

Yukiko had replied: 'Huh? How did he know? Me and Chie told everyone to hold that from you two.'

'Rise told him. He said it was a little after lunchtime'

'Oh... Anyway, I'm sorry for that...'

'Yukiko,' Yu began typing. He was planning on scolding her about hiding that from him, but he thought of what happened earlier that day. It just wasn't worth it.

'... thanks for the concern' he completed and sent the message. He then threw the phone to the other side of the couch, not caring about what answer he would probably get. Some seconds later, his phone vibrated again, but he ignored it.

He sighed, then decided to take a shower and get ready for bed

What a day...

He wore his pajamas and sat on the futon. Before he slept, he analyzed the key that man Louis had left behind. It was like an antique styled key, only it had a spade for a head, red on one side and pure back on the other. The shaft was a shiny, metallic crimson, and the code was a clubs symbol, black in color. Attached to the head was a small cord that held a tag. It was made of metal, and Yu's name was engraved in it, with his first name on one side and his last in the other.

Yet another key.

Weird...

Yu tried to make sense out of it, but eventually decided to put it under his pillow and went to sleep. He was much too tired.

What he did not notice, was that the key started to shine brightly under his pillow.

**-?-**

He opened his eyes, ready to be greeted by the sight of the Velvet Room, but was instead met with a blindingly bright light. It was a completely different space.

Yu was sat on a comfortable plush chair situated in front of a table clothed in red. He squeezed his eyes shut and gave his head a good shake, seeing as the flash gave him a dull pang of pain there. Once recomposed, he looked upon his surroundings, although his vision was still a little bit blurry.

With his eyes slowly adapting to the lighting, the white walls with blurry gold were revealed to be that metal trickling down and carving paths out of the surface like rivers. The gilt ground had the lines of yellow running between square tiles made of black and white marble.

Although his surroundings appeared mostly white, a red hue was cast over the walls; the light scarlet color that soaked through came from a sky hung above a glass dome ceiling.

His observations were interrupted by a groan. "...what's going on...?" a familiar voice asked. It appeared to be close... Right by his side, actually.

Yu turned his head to the right to see someone slowly materializing on the seat next to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Am I dreaming...?" the newcomer wondered aloud.

What the Hell was Yosuke doing there?!

"...Oh, hey, man," the brunette greeted his friend. Great. At least he wasn't in that strange place by himself. "Do you know where we are?" he continued. He probably didn't know, either, but hey. Worth a try.

"No idea..." Yu trailed off. He couldn't shake off the weirdness of Yosuke's appearance in his... dream?

"Hello..." a female voice was heard. The two teenagers looked around, but could see anyone.

"Do not be alarmed." he heard the same voice whisper in his left ear. He promptly turned his head to the side, and was met with big, clear yellow eyes, staring into his own silver ones. "You're fast asleep in the real world." the owner of the voice continued. She had bent over to reach his ear, and when she straightened herself up, making up details became an easier task since she wasn't all up in his face.

She towered over Yu as he was sat down, but he was probably taller than her if he was to stand up. She had short blond hair that was neatly tied in two swirly pigtails and had light skin, even lighter than Yukiko's. Her small smile was highlighted by a pink, slightly glossy lipstick. Her sleeveless white dress reached down to half of her thighs, and was adorned by a red ribbon tied on her mid section.

"Welcome to the Sanctuary! My name is Catherine. Pleased to meet you." she exclaimed as her smile widened.

Yu's head was packed full of questions.

"What exactly are you...?" he asked.

"I'm a resident of this room. There are three others, but they left to take care of some business." she answered casually.

"Who are those three?" Yosuke was the one to ask.

"I am one." a male voice was heard, then the sound of a door opening could be heard. Yu recognized the voice. A light came from the wall across the table where the two were sat. After the light subsided, a door appeared on the wall, and a blond man walked into the room.

"Hello." said the man that called himself Louis Cyphre as he walked towards the table. "And welcome to the Sanctuary."

"You!" Yu and Yosuke said almost in unison before getting up to confront him. The latter tried to walk around the table, but Catherine had stopped him by holding his wrist.

"Let go, dammit!" he yelled as he tried to break his hand free of her surprisingly strong grasp. She just shook her head at him while he kept on struggling.

Yu, however, was more than sick of all those mysteries. He climbed over the table and stomped his way towards the man.

"No need for hostility. I mean you no ha-" Louis started, but was interrupted by the silverette grabbing him by the collar.

"Cut the crap!" he yelled before pulling Louis closer. "You're gonna start talking now!" he continued through gritted teeth.

"I was going to, but then you abruptly interrupted me. I know that you're emotionally unstable due to everything that has occurred, but I am not the one you want to release your anger upon... yet." the older man stated calmly.

"The Hell do you mean?!" Yu spat the question. "What are you?! Why are you here?!"

Louis sighed. "Can you please let me go?"

"Speak the Hell up! Now!" the teenager apparently didn't hear his request.

"... I apologize in advance." he said, before grabbing the boy's wrist with one hand...

And then he lit his own hand on fire.

Yu felt the burn and immediately backed away from Louis with a yell of pain. His persona was weak to fire, dammit!

"What the fuck are you?!" he questioned as he held his hand. He could hear a zapping sound and Yosuke screaming, at that moment.

Louis straightened his jacket. "To answer your question... I am Lucifer. As I have been trying to say, I mean you no harm, and we have quite a lot to talk about. So why don't you have a seat?"

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**Short chapter, I know, but please, review and leave your opinion. It means a lot. See you guys next chapter.**


	5. Sanctuary: Pt 2

**Hey, y'all. Welcome to another chapter. I wanna thank afterados and Hawkeye Reticle for their reviews and compliments. Well, as always, I don't own anything, yadayadayada, enjoy.**

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Yu raised an eyebrow, the first and only showcase of surprise and confusion he could come up with at that moment. Lucifer? As in the the christian Prince Of Darkness? What?!

"What?!" Yosuke was the one to vocalize his partner's thought, ironically enough.

Louis cleared his throat. "As for the reason why I summoned you here... I know details about the murder case you have been investigating, and I'd like to share them with you."

So, the Antichrist was saying that he was aware of the murders, knew details that Yu, himself didn't, and was willing to share such details with him? What was going on? Did he miss something along the way? He most likely did, but maybe 'missing something' was a huge understatement. It probably was. So, what could he do, at that moment? He was summoned in his dreams to an unknown realm, had probably nowhere to run to, he had Yosuke by his side, who must have been equally clueless about the situation...

But then again, if he was Lucifer, he could have been the one behind everything, trying to deceive him. And then again, he could be telling the truth. And again, maybe he wasn't even Lucifer. And then, yet again, this could be just a dream and everything going on could be a product of his imagination, so what the Hell? What to do?! He looked at Yosuke, and he has still being held by that Catherine girl. Those yellow eyes... was she from the Velvet Room, or something?

So. Many. Questions!

What could he do? He could keep trying to confront Lucifer, but he had little to no evidence that he was the one behind everything. He could sit down to listen, but he had no evidence that Lucifer wasn't the one behind everything, either.

"Are you really going to take your time? If so, I won't tell you the story of this whole murder case." Louis stated calmly.

Yu was still facing the dilemma. He could be lying, he could be doing anything to deceive him, but he had no other leads to move him forward. And apparently no ways to obtain leads or clues, seeing as the Velvet Room only had him know things when it was time to, and they sure didn't tell him anything yet. And even if they did, it would end up being something extremely cryptic.

He eventually shook his head at himself and turned towards Yosuke. "Let's hear what he has to say." he gave the order reluctantly.

The brunette was still bent on confronting both Lucifer and Catherine, but he obeyed, even if he didn't want to.

"Catherine, if you'd please." Louis commanded, and she nodded before whispering something. She gave Yosuke's hand a squeeze, and the burns on his hand from the electricity attack disappeared, along with the scars he had previously. She then let go of his hand, and he proceeded to go take his seat.

Yu began to walk back towards his seat, and Catherine got in his way, but only to take his hand into hers and heal his burns, as well.

With both teenagers sat down, the residents took their seats across the two.

"Again, I apologize. Now, as I was going to say, I have been accompanying your journey for quite some time. From various perspectives, at that." Louis began.

"What, have you been watching us this whole time?" Yosuke asked.

"Not only you, but all of those involved. Your journey has piqued not only my interest, but that of some other parties, as well. And now that things took the turn that they did, I judged it to be the time to interfere."

"So you know everything?" Yu questioned.

"Indeed."

"Then tell me, already!" the silverette was starting to lose his cool, again.

"Since you are so hasty, I'll start explaining." Louis said, as he leaned back on his chair. "For one... Namatame never killed anybody."

Both teenagers halted completely at that. Seeing as neither of them could come up with an answer, he continued. "His first target was in fact the girl called Yukiko Amagi. And he was a persona user, although he never did use his."

Yu was having a hard time choosing between the millions of questions in his head.

"After losing his job and the breakout of his scandal, he fell into despair. During a night of drinking, he decided to try for himself an urban legend that he had heard some days prior... the Midnight Channel. And when his unplugged TV came to life, he saw the one he loved, Mayumi Yamano on the screen. He kept wondering about the occurred as the media kept pounding on his affair, until the foggy day came, when Yamano's body was found hung upside down from an antenna by a girl named Saki Konishi. He was shocked, and thought that maybe the Midnight Channel had something to do with his lover's death. So he waited for another rainy night. And that time, he saw the girl called Saki on the screen. He freaked out, and tried to think of a way to warn her."

As he said that, Yosuke started biting his bottom lip.

"But she rejected him, judging him mentally unstable and deranged. So, powerless, he watched the Midnight Channel again, to see Saki writhing in pain. The next foggy day came, and brought the girl's body, hung upside down from a telephone pole. He had failed to save someone, again. So he fell into depression.

He watched the Midnight Channel yet again, and that time he saw another girl. He recognized her as Yukiko Amagi, despite the blurry image of the 'broadcast'. He was so desperate that he even tried to reach inside the screen to get her. And his hand passed cleanly through the screen. He tried to get help from the police, but he was once again brushed off. No one believed him. He knew that he was going to be ignored if he tried talking to Amagi, so he decided to take more drastic measures. He decided that he'd hide her in a safe place, where not even the killer could catch her. The world inside of the TV."

Yu's disbelief was very visible on his features.

"What? That's bullshit! Why did he keep kidnapping and throwing people in the TV to save them?! That place is dangerous as Hell, we had to work our asses off to," Yosuke trailed off.

Louis shot a small smirk at him.

Oh...

That was a huge vicious circle, wasn't it?

"And that is Namatame's side of the story."

"... Is that all you have to tell us? You just called us here to rub the fact that we killed the wrong guy in our faces?" Yosuke asked, almost enraged. And he was going to keep pressuring Louis, but Yu stopped him abruptly before turning to the so called Antichrist.

"Who killed the first two victims?" he asked.

"Now that is the real question. I could tell you, but then you would rush out of your room as soon as you woke to go and confront the person."

"Of course! Why wouldn't-"

"And you would die." Louis cut Yu off.

Yu stopped for a second before raising an eyebrow, questioningly and defiantly.

"The person would kill you. In my view, you are no match for them. This person is also a persona user... more precisely a Wild Card, such as yourself. But far stronger. Not only in brute strength, but his psyche is far stronger than yours. So much so, you could never read through them, even to this day." the blond man stated.

The silverette was at a loss for words. What the Hell did he mean by 'not able to beat whoever that was'? Of course he could, dammit, he had to!

"The fuck are you talking about?! We can't beat this person?! To Hell with that, we'll make them pay with blood for what they did!" Yosuke couldn't restrain himself, anymore.

"So, you deem yourselves strong enough to defeat the person?"

"Damn straight, we are!" Yosuke continued, while Yu was still dazed. Or rather, contemplating possibilities.

Who could be stronger than him? He honestly had no idea. It was impossible, no one he knew was a suspect. He was extremely puzzled.

"I don't think so. Can you prove to me that you are strong enough?" Louis... taunted?

"How?" Yu asked.

"Do you think you could take me on?" the man continued.

Yosuke was taken aback. Yu, not so much. He had at least braced himself for that.

"So, I guess you won't tell us who the culprit is until we prove to you how strong we are, right?" he asked.

"Exactly. I want you to show me that you can defeat the one behind the murders. By prevailing against my angelical aspect, to be more precise."

"Do we have a deadline?" Yu questioned again. What if there was an ultimate time limit to getting the bottom of this case? He wasn't about to take chances... well, more than he was already taking.

"You'll have time to prepare. You can even decline, if you don't believe me. You can believe that Namatame was the killer and go on with your lives, believing that everything has been dealt with, but consider this: Why was he so shaken? If salvation was death for him, why did he get so frustrated? Why did he fail to 'save' your late cousin? He should have rejoiced.

What about when you confronted him in the TV world? You should remember his words well... 'you were the ones I saved. Don't worry, I'll protect this girl, too,' he said, at the time. Think about it." Louis said, as Yu took his words into consideration. Very solid points, he held. "And I am also well aware that I am the only one who can give you the leads to the culprit. The other who could have helped you has passed away, as well."

Wait. Did he mean...

"... Naoto? Did she reach that conclusion? When?" Yosuke was the one to question. He was the puzzled one at that moment.

"Well," Louis trailed off, then looked towards Yu. "That is a story for another time. And speaking of stories for another time, I don't think I should keep you here any longer. Although time means little here, it still marches on in your world."

The two teenagers exchanged glances between themselves, as if to search for an agreement. Agreement on what? Maybe a new course of action, maybe opinions. Something.

"Take your time, set your minds straight, prepare, and come back here when you judge yourself ready, or if you want more answers pertaining some subjects. Depending on the subject, I just might help you. There are entrances to this place your world, so use your keys whenever you wish to come here."

Yu was the first to break eye contact, and nodded to Louis. Yosuke kept staring at him with doubt, but he eventually decided to go along.

"So, until then," Louis said and the two's eyes began to be filled with black dots. "Farewell."

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**Aaaaand done. As always, leave your opinions and critics on the review bow below, I'm Raidou the 16th, *thumbs up* and I approve this message. See you all next chapter.**


	6. The Unforgiven

**Yo, y'all. So, college started for me, life is catching up again. So my updates will not be that frequent... srnk. As if they've ever been. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, I don't own anything, hope you enjoy the chapter, let's get it started.**

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Yosuke woke up very early in the morning in the Sunday. He sat up on the bed and glanced around his room.

Teddie still hadn't returned.

He ran both hands down his face and sighed. What the Hell was happening? What was that dream?

Or more importantly: what had he done?

Not only did he kill the wrong person, he killed the one who tried to protect Saki, back then.

But then again, that shouldn't have been the biggest of the issues with what he did. He had Chie, who helped him get over her, he had every other person that Namatame kidnapped with the hopes of saving them, he had the fact that he let his anger overcome his better judgement at the time when it mattered the most, he had the fact that in the one time he managed to make an important decision for the group, he screwed it up...

Hell, he even had Naoto and Nanako to put into consideration. And he had freaking killed someone, dammit.

And yet, the first thing that came to his mind was Saki.

Why?

Was it because he still had some crush on her, even after her conscience said she hated him, and even though he liked Chie? Was it because Namatame tried to protect her when he couldn't? Was it because she reminded him of his failure from back then?

... Was his ego really that big? Was his pride really that big of a part of his thought process?

He tried to shrug the thoughts away, but he couldn't. Everything kept pounding away at his brain, creating a mix of regret, rage, hate and frustration. He groaned and wanted to bang his head on something, but ultimately decided against it. He took a deep breath before getting up to go to the bathroom, but before his feet even touched the ground, he found a blank piece of paper under that red key on his bedside drawer.

He turned on the lamp and took the paper, before turning it around. It was a note, written on a very neat handwriting.

'Dear Yosuke Hanamura.

Nothing is in vain. Everything has a meaning. Every action has a consequence. That is the natural course of the world. You are not exempt from this rule. Your actions are consequence of everything around you, too.

True guilt comes from within. What hurts you the most in your guilt is your pride. You have deviated from the ways you've chosen, and your pride is hurt for not being able to live up to your standards. You feel ashamed, and you don't know how to confront others. But know this: there is no grief born from guilt beyond forgiveness. Those dear to you whom you think you've betrayed need you. Your friends need you. You need to be by your friends' side. So forgive yourself, and let others forgive you. Guilt and grief can inebriate you just as much as anger and hate.

If you want proof of these words, speak with Chie Satonaka. Then you will understand.

Best regards.

Louis Cyphre'

... So that wasn't a dream. Yosuke lowered his head. He was to talk to Chie to understand that he wasn't guilty...? But of course he was guilty. He did kill Namatame. It was his fault. Did she, of all people even have a chance of forgiving him? Well, he had to talk to her sooner or later, so he might as well give it a shot. He had nothing to lose, anyway.

Oh, the feeling of having nothing to lose. Wonderful. Not.

He could try to go back to sleep, and he was tired, but he didn't feel like he'd be able to sleep. So he decided to go wash his face. He saw on the mirror that his scars were gone. Then he went to the kitchen to grab a fruit, or something light to eat. Then he went back to his room and decided to browse around the internet in his notebook for a while.

On the first page, the first trend he saw was the death of the Detective 'Princess'. It seemed her secret was exposed, but never mind that. Even her grandfather was coming back to town. The police seemed to have discovered her body and quickly reached the conclusion of suicide... and the head of the investigation was Adachi? What? With direct orders from Dojima, himself? That was something.

'Although the case was simple, the previously rookie detective Tohru Adachi showed promise by clarifying the circumstances, while casting shadows on the department's attitude towards the late young sleuth by tying the cause of her suicide to the disrespect she suffered because of her age. Her connections with the department were cut short as soon as the suspect of the serial murder case, Taro Namatame was arrested. She was dismissed without the due respect, reward or recognition, even though she had doubts in regards of some unclear circumstances, and even though she helped bringing the suspect into custody. What changes will these allegations bring? Has the department tried rush the closure of the case?'

Wow. Adachi was bringing the house down? Way to seize an opportunity.

But never mind that.

Again, he was reminded of Naoto's death. He felt his heart clench, and wondered how her grandfather felt, having outlived his granddaughter. Then he sighed. Again, he felt as if he couldn't cry, as much as the situation demanded.

What was becoming of him?

He'd like to say that she wouldn't want to so see him grieving so much, but he did he really know her? She was very introverted, and despite the group's efforts to loosen her up, she had never really opened up to the group like Rise, Kanji... all of the others except Yu. And that was saying something, given the fact they helped her face her Shadow.

He shook his head, before changing the page to something else. Anything to get those thoughts out of his head. Maybe he'd play some games in the mean time.

After roughly two hours of leveling up in Holy Wars Online, he turned off his notebook. It was bright outside and he was hungry, so he went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. His morning went on just the same as any other Sunday, only his parents tried to talk to him about Naoto. He just gave shallow responses and said that he was fine, even going as far as to say that she wouldn't want her friends to be so down, so he was trying his best. Lunch time came, and everything was the same, only a little more awkward. He had the day off, so he planned to stay in his room without doing anything. And go to his room he did.

He opened his laptop to log in the game again, but he thought of that note. Was he really willing to talk to Chie? The best thing that could happen was her giving him the silent treatment until she eventually said something along the lines of 'I can't be your friend, anymore'. But they would have that talk sooner or later, whether Yosuke liked it or not.

He grabbed his cellphone and clicked on Chie's address to send her a message. 'Are you free this afternoon? I really have to talk to you.' he typed in, and hit the send button.

Some three minutes later, his cellphone vibrated. Chie had answered: 'Okay. Where do you want to meet?'

'At the riverbed, in an hour. Is that okay?'

'I'm already here. I'll be waiting.'

'Okay. See you in a bit.'

Yosuke flipped his phone closed. At least she was willing to talk to him. He just brushed his teeth and threw on his casual clothes before he started making his way to the meeting place.

...

**-Samegawa Floodplains, Riverbed-**

Yosuke descended the steps and found Chie sat on the bench, panting. Maybe she was practicing her kicks by herself before he arrived. He approached her.

"Hey," he greeted somewhat apathetically.

"Hello," she greeted back, also not in the most animated way. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Huh. Straight to the point. "I, uh..." Yosuke didn't know where to begin. That was going to be really bad, wasn't it.

He pinched his forehead, trying to think of a way to begin the conversation. He eventually settled on start . "Chie, do you remember what happened at the hospital...? Of course you do." he said, before the urge to facepalm beat strongly in his head. Dammit, Yosuke. "Umm, I wanted to tell you something."

The hard part was that moment.

"What we did there... was not the right thing."

Chie raised an eyebrow. The half scowl she wore was slowly giving way to a mildly interested, but neutral face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"We," he trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck. "shouldn't have killed Namatame," he continued.

She had previously braced herself for that remark, though as the sentence hit her ears, she was still caught off guard. Yosuke went on.

"Me and Yu discovered that it wasn't the right thing to do not that long ago. We still don't know why, but we're working towards the answer. I thought you deserved to know as much, cause you were always a good friend to me. If you don't want to involve yourself with this, I won't force you to fight by our side." wow, did all of that come out of his mouth? He could not shut up once he got started, could he?

Chie was still trying to absorb all of the information when he spoke again. "I also wanted to say that I'm sorry. It was me who made the wrong decision. I betrayed you all when I let my stupid anger take over when I needed to think." he kicked a rock aside while he spoke.

"I'm as much as murderer as we thought that Namatame was. You were a friend that I didn't want to lose, but you deserve the truth, so if you wanna hate me, beat me, kill me or something, I won't fight back. I don't think I deserve to be forgiven." Yosuke looked down, as if he was trying to hide his non existent tears.

But not because he was faking. He just didn't find the tears to cry. Again. He just felt like a waste of space, then. His own words beat hard against his chest.

She looked at him with no expression on her face whatsoever. While he wasn't looking directly at her, she knew that he was bracing himself for whatever reaction she was to express.

To be honest, she, herself wasn't sure what to do. She could hate him for being the jerk he always was, she could beat him for turning against the team, she could kill him for making the wrong decision and becoming a murderer. But she eventually got up and...

"I forgive you, Yosuke." Chie got closer to Yosuke and wrapped her arms around him. An embrace that he didn't find the strength to return. He just kept his head lowered, and silently, a single tear rolled down his left cheek. Not a cry, not a sob. Just a tear. Of joy, of self pity, of regret, perhaps. He briefly wondered where that tear came from, but he stopped shortly after. After some long seconds, she broke the hug apart.

"You, too, are a friend that I don't want to lose. We all make mistakes."

"But I killed someone that didn't deserve to die. That's not some 'mistake' that can be easily forgiven."

"I know. But just because it isn't easy, doesn't mean that it's impossible."

Silence

"... Chie... Why?" Yosuke finally looked straight in her eyes, not bothering to wipe the tear from his cheek. He still couldn't read her eyes. Not because they were empty, or because she was hiding something. It was almost as if her feelings were written on a language that he couldn't understand.

"Because I..." Chie started, but time seemed to stop as a million questions passed through her mind. Could it be that moment? Was that moment meant to be? What would his answer be? Would he feel obliged? Would he feel pitied? What would happen then?

Was she ready?

No. At least not now.

"Because I can't bring myself to hate you. You'll always be my friend." she finished, looking straight at his brown eyes.

Yosuke still couldn't fully believe his ears. Maybe Chie killed him and he was experiencing his last dream. But then, the second tear trailed down his cheek, slowly washing away any doubts that he still had.

"... Thanks, Chie." Was all he could muster the will to say.

An awkward silence followed. One was lost on the others thoughts, until they realized that they have been staring at each other for quite a while. After fidgeting a bit, she broke the silence.

"So, ummm... You wanna train? It's been a while since I last sparred with anyone, so..."

She was blushing, if only slightly. Yosuke found himself lost on the faint red of her cheeks. She really was cute and-

Wait. Spar? That suddenly reminded him of something. Something very important, at that. He finally wiped the tears off his face and his expression brightened.

"Oh, sure." he answered. "No need to go easy on me!"

After readying themselves, they sparred for a while before they decided to grab something to eat. Chie eventually said goodbye, and left to her house. Yosuke, however, still wandered on the streets for some time. He needed to think and sink in all that had happened. In the end, the note was right. She did forgive him.

He wondered if Teddie would forgive him, too.

It was getting very late and he was tired, so he went back to his house to take a shower and maybe get some sleep. Yes... perhaps he would sleep better that night.

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**Aaaand done. As always, leave your opinions and critics in the review box below, I am Raidou the 16th... and I approve this message.**


	7. The More I See

**Hey, y'all. New chapter. I took my time, I know. Life caught up, as I said before. Anyway, the chapter is done, and it's here. Enjoy it, and leave your opinion. **

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Yu woke up in Monday with a mind twisting migraine. He did not want to go to school in the slightest. Not after the day before.

In the Sunday, he had tried to contact Yukiko all day, but she hadn't responded. Rise was also out of reach, and he had even gone to the tofu shop to talk to her, but she was not at home. Kanji was also nowhere to be found, his mother said he went for a walk. Teddie also hadn't returned from... wherever the Hell he was.

After searching for his closer friends, he tried to contact and find the people he usually hung out with in a weekend, but found none of them. By the middle of the day, he just wanted to talk to someone who didn't know anything about the case, so that he could try to enjoy a normal talk for once, but there's was no one for that.

Then he went home, frustrated. He spent the night alone and wallowing in his own thoughts. But he didn't go up to his room before watching TV... which was showing news of Naoto. Even more frustrated, he went to take a shower and went to bed early.

And even in his sleep, he couldn't get a break. He was still trying to take in the bombshell that was dropped on him.

He was summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor told him that he reversed all of his social links, save for the Magician. Igor also explained that if he lost this last link, he would become Fallen. He warned Yu to the danger of becoming 'Fallen'... a state in which 'your soul will be forever lost in the Void', but the real meaning went right over his head.

He knew why he reversed all his social links, however. It was because he betrayed everyone by making the wrong choice, not doing justice to the faith, the trust that people had in him. He was a fool, a traitor, and nothing more. He didn't even know if he should have been glad that he didn't become Fallen, whatever that meant. He felt as if he didn't deserve the power that his friends gave him. This thought kept recurring on Yu's mind, until he looked at the clock. It was almost time to go. He prepared lunch, threw on his uniform and headed to school.

**-Yasogami High- **

Yu managed to get to class in time, and had to sit through the whole morning period. Which was extremely boring. He couldn't pay attention to anything, and almost fell asleep at least three times, but eventually, lunchtime came. He took his bento box and headed for the roof. A time to breathe was really in order for him.

**-Yasogami High, Rooftop-**

Yu sat on his usual spot, and began eating his lunch. He was not used to eating alone like that, but he was not complaining. Granted, he would get plenty alone time when he got home, but he was really in need of a time to think about everything. Or to just forget about everything. Yeah, the latter sounded about right. He'd just like to concentrate on his food and savor it like it was any other normal day, but just as he was halfway done, the door to the roof was opened abruptly, making a rather loud sound.

And Yosuke was the one to enter the scene.

The slightly annoyed teenager rolled his eyes. Of course he'd not get a lunchtime worth of rest.

"Hey." his partner greeted. He seemed to be happier than usual, as his monotonous poker face was not present, anymore.

Yu briefly wondered what happened, but decided that he'd find that out soon enough. "Hey. What's going on?" he greeted back. His voice came out slightly lower than what he intended it to be.

"Are you free tonight? I kinda need to talk to you about things," Yosuke trailed off as he scratched the back of his head.

What did he need to talk about? He knew everything already, why would he want to discuss things further? But then again, declining would be kind of a dick move... "Sure. When and where?"

"Is the riverbed cool with you? At 8 pm, or something like this."

"Alright." Yu answered, as he turned back to the bowl of food in front of him and resumed eating.

Yosuke noticed this and threatened to sigh. His partner was really down in the dumps, huh? If he didn't know better, he'd think that Yu wasn't even paying attention or caring about what he was saying, but he knew that was a sign of fatigue. He was tired out of his mind. Different from himself, his partner didn't seem to have moved an inch forward since that day in the hospital... and Yosuke would be surprised if he did, really. The losses took way bigger of a toll on him, Yukiko was a harder person to deal with than Chie (at least in his opinion), and the guilt that came with being the leader must have been weighing a lot on his shoulders.

He could have tried comforting him, but... he didn't think he was smart enough to convince Yu with an argument. So he just waved a 'see ya' and left to class, leaving his friend to his own.

Yu remained there alone until the bell rang. He didn't feel like enduring another boring period, but he had to. With a sigh, he got up and headed back to his class.

**-Yasogami High, Classroom-**

The afternoon period was just as much of a drag as the morning one. He almost got up and left the class in two or three occasions, but he managed to contain himself. Classes eventually reached an end and he was free to go. Where, though, was another question altogether. He could have gone home and simply waited until the time to meet with Yosuke (who had already left, for some reason), or he could have chosen to spend his afternoon elsewhere doing something else. Like visiting his uncle in the hospital. Yeah, that'd be nice...

Okay, maybe 'nice' was sugarcoating it a bit too much, but it was something he felt obliged to do. Without thinking twice, he gathered his belongings and...

Bumped into Yukiko as he was making his way out of class by walking too fast.

Dammit, he did forget all about her, didn't he?

Or maybe he didn't forget. Perhaps he was just blocking out everything that wasn't important for the moment. He had to visit his uncle, he had to find the truth about the case, he was still grieving about everything that happened, and-

Wait.

Yu and Yukiko looked into each other's eyes for some moments.

What was really important, there?

He had the option of just reorganizing his priorities, maybe focus on talking to his friends and then convince them that nothing was wrong, and that everything was over. He'd move on, everybody would move on, and nobody would have to suffer anymore than they already had. Maybe Kanji and Rise would still find it hard to move on because of Naoto, but that would take care of itself with time. After all, they were still a group, and none of them would be ever alone.

... He left Yukiko out of that thought. Was he implying that she didn't feel the loss as much as the others? Where was Yosuke in that equation?

Was he just planning all that so that only he, himself would be able to move on?

He broke out of his stupor for a second to analyze Yukiko's face. It was barely visible with her make up, but looking up close, he noticed she had been sleepless. And for her to feel the need of wearing that much make up, she must have been very, very tired. Even when she was staring blankly or uninterested at something, she had that certain glow to her eyes... like it was a sign that she was there. Seeing that glow, you could feel her presence. At that moment, though, it wasn't there.

And he managed to get a glimpse of his own reflection in her eyes. The way she looked reminded him a lot of his own image, only he was not wearing any make up.

Looking at himself, he couldn't feel his own presence.

Yukiko opened her mouth a little, as if she had a small spasm, then she glanced around before absently excusing herself and hurrying on ahead.

Yu followed her with his eyes while he remained still.

He could not feel his own presence...

He suddenly felt his heart clench, like a realization made his heart stop for the briefest of moments.

Something snapped, bringing him back to his senses. What a horrid feeling... he'd never felt that way before. What was he doing? Where was he? What was going on?

He was in need of a very deep reflection about everything.

But for that moment, he'd go visit his uncle in the hospital. One thing he got was that he was wrong in putting his relationship so low in his priorities list, but Yukiko had already walked away, and his uncle was important, too. He picked up his pace and left the school building, while reminding himself to talk to his girlfriend in a better opportunity.

...

**-Inaba Municipal Hospital-**

"We're sorry, but Mr. Dojima cannot be visited, right now. Doctor's orders. We will contact you as soon as visitation is allowed again." the receptionist at the front desk said.

Yu would argue, but if they were doctor's orders, he couldn't do anything about it. He knew he wanted to see Dojima, and he knew what he'd do to see him, but he also got how stubborn his uncle was. That, and he couldn't begin to comprehend how much he was suffering... his physical and emotional condition could be bad enough for visitations to be reasonably prohibited. Yu thanked the receptionist and was about to head to the exit, but then he heard a cheerful and familiar voice call for him.

"Hey, Narukami-kun!"

Yu turned towards the person, and sure enough. Adachi, wearing a yellow coat and glasses.

Dammit.

"Hey, Adachi-san." he answered the greeting not so cheerfully. That meeting take a sour turn.

Adachi furrowed his eyebrows a bit before scratching the back of his head. "... sorry you can't visit Dojima-san. It's not only the doctors, he wants to be left alone for a while, too. I think you know how he must feel," he trailed off. "I mean, I also get how you feel about wanting to visit him, but-"

"It's okay." Yu cut him off before he began tripping more on his words. He got that he was trying to comfort him, just the intention was enough. "So... what's been happening around here?"

"Well, since Namatame's gone missing, all kinds of problems have been stirring up. As far as the media is concerned, he's under our custody, but I wonder how long that'll last... To top it off, Dojima-san let me in charge of the whole case, so everything is kinda my responsibility, now." he shrugged, before adjusting his glasses. Did he use to wear glasses? Yu briefly wondered, because he looked a bit funny with those. "I just can't get a minute's break, nowadays." he finished with a sigh.

Yu was surprised that he hadn't brought the fact that-

"By the way..."

Of course.

"About you and your friends being in the room by the time Namatame disappeared..."

Of freaking course.

"I'm trying my best to leave you all out of this mess."

Wait, what?

"I've been asked to take you in for questioning, but I'm trying to avoid that as much as I can." he said, before he put a hand on Yu's shoulder. Looking closer, he was also sweating. He was that nervous and still managed to pull a smile off? "I wish I could say that I understand how you feel right now, but I don't. I can't begin to imagine what you, Dojima-san and your friends are going through right now. I don't know if you did something, or even if you had anything to do with his disappearing, and even if you did, the least I can do for you all is try to understand. I will do everything I can to keep you out of trouble, okay?" he then gave a gentle squeeze.

Whaaat?

"I, uhh," Yu took a brief moment to recollect his thoughts. "Thanks, Adachi-san. I really don't know how I can thank you enough." he finally said.

"You don't need to." the detective slipped back into his more goofy demeanor as he scratched the back of his head once again with a wider smile. Then his expression turned upside down for a split second. "As for Shirogane-san, though... Sorry, I don't think you want me to sit here and stick salt in your wound all day. Just rest assured."

Well. Showed what Yu knew about Adachi. Almost nothing.

"I need to be off. Take care, Narukami-kun." he took a bow, before he turned around and left.

The confused teenager looked as the detective walked his way for a while, and he put his hand on his head before he rounded the corner. Maybe he had a migraine or something.

That meeting was something else. At least he knew that no one would be getting in trouble any time soon, depending on Adachi's competence. Competence in which Yu had much more trust, at that moment. Maybe he just needed a real motivation and an opportunity to show his true potential, or something.

In any case, Yu decided to go home. He still had an appointment with Yosuke later that evening, so he decided to take a break before getting ready. Maybe he'd reorganize his thoughts a bit, see if he could take a step forward in his much needed reflection about himself.

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**Done. Opinions below, Raidou The 16th, I approve this message. *thumbs up* See y'all next chapter.**


	8. Better Than You

**Hey, y'all. I'm back with another chapter. Hope you like it. I don't own anything, not the series, not the music in the series, not the characters in the series, as much as I wish I did. Well, on with the chapter.**

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Yosuke was listening to music while sitting on the bench at the Riverbed, waiting for Yu to show up. He was actually singing, since there was no one around him. The place was very much empty that night, what with not even the old fisherman being around. He initially thought that meeting place was inadequate once he thought about the creepy old dude that was always hanging around there, but nope.

He was going through some of the songs Yu passed him, with some bands that he had heard about before due to their overwhelming world wide fame, and some others that weren't that renowned. All of them in English, and one of them even had a chorus in French. The time Yu spent overseas had a real effect in his musical preferences, and he proceeded to bug Yosuke about all of those rock bands he liked until he agreed to give them a listen. Granted, his big headphones were always blasting with either rock or electronic beats (with a pause for Rise's music) even before then, but he was never so open to the heavier styles that Yu brought up. But at that moment, they really fit. Almost weirdly so. Like the song he was listening to, 'Thorn Within'.

'... Point your fingers, point right at me. For I am shadows and will follow you, one and the same are we.'

Did he need to say anything? It sounded strangely close to home, of course, but that only strengthened his feelings for the song. And even more when he tied the song to Yu. Without even realizing it, he was bobbing his head to the beat with his eyes closed.

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Startled, he immediately slapped the hand that touched him and got up to face his assailan-

Friend. He meant friend.

"Oh, hey, man," he greeted his ninja partner as he sat back down.

"Yo." Yu greeted back, not in the most cheerful tone.

"Sorry about almost jumping on you. You kinda startled me, there." he apologized almost playfully, trying to make the conversation a bit more comfortable. Well... more for himself, really.

"It's cool. You were tripping kinda far, though," Yu answered.

"I was tripping on some of the songs you showed me. It's your fault, you know?" Yosuke replied with a small smile.

"I guess so, yeah."

A moment of silence followed as the brunette's smile slowly melted into the sudden awkwardness. Some two or three seconds were needed to come up with a new topic.

"How was your day?" he asked while pausing the song playing in his headphones.

"I tried to visit my uncle. Turns out, we still can't go near him cause he's not well enough. I ran into Adachi in the hospital and he assured me that we're in the clear."

"In the clear? About what?"

"We were in the room around the time Namatame disappeared. We'd be in some deep trouble if he didn't have our backs in this one. Didn't you think about that?"

Yosuke halted for a brief moment. Huh... "Why's he doing that?"

"Sympathy, I guess. He said we already had too much in our plates to be involved in that."

"Oh. That's considerate of him...?" that was a bit strange, if not very concerning. He'd like to delve a bit deeper into the matter, but it was very convenient. So he chose to shrug it off.

A moment of silence followed. Yosuke was still thinking about how to bring up the main subject when Yu interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay, enough beating around the bush. What was that you wanted to talk about?"

He was taken back a bit due to his friend's sudden straightforwardness. He scratched the back of his head. "Umm, you see, there's something I wanted to get off my chest."

"What is it?" his partner asked again, not before taking a deep breath.

"Yu... how should I put this," he trailed off as lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Before he even finished choosing his words, his mouth was opening again.

"You know, at first, back when I got my power, I thought that you and I were gonna be heroes. You know, you saw it through my Shadow. But as the time passed, your abilities surpassed those of everyone else and you became the hero. I felt a bit bad because the spotlight wasn't on 'us' anymore, but only on 'you'..."

He paused for a moment, and looked up to see Yu looking at him expectantly... somewhat. God, that was so embarrassing. "Agh, what am I saying? I was jealous. Simple. I thought you were better at everything, people liked you, everything was going better for you." he shook his head and cast his eyes lower and lower as he spoke. After exhaling the air he'd been holding, he continued. "And we were both transfer students, too, but instead of getting endless friends, girls and money like you, I ended up becoming the lame class clown, and the 'Junes Kid'. I called you here to see what's that difference that sets us so far apart."

Yu was a bit surprised, despite of the composure he was showing. Did Yosuke really think that he was all that? Also, how was he still his friend if he had that much on his mind? He shrugged the thoughts away. Again, there was no use pondering if the answers were right in front of his face. "How?" he asked.

"I want you to fight me," Yosuke answered.

... What?

"I want to see what's the difference between us. Without our personas, we're just normal people, right? So I wanted to see how we fare against each other. Will you fight me?" he pleaded.

Yu thought for a while. Was that really all he needed? Did he really need to prove that they weren't that far apart?

Yosuke had a determined look on his face. He really needed to see what was that oh so crucial factor that made them so different.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"What are the conditions?"

"We fight until one of us drops," Yosuke's fists clenched subconsciously as he talked, until they became bloodless white from the pressure. He wasn't sure if he could win, but he got the feeling that was not a battle where winning or losing would matter. He looked down, as if to ask his hands if he was ready. It would be a fight to make them equal.

Just at that moment, however, he was starting to realize how stupid that request was. Yu'd never fight him like that, without reason. He'd just end up condescending Yosuke for being a little kid or something before slapping him upside the head and sending him home.

His partner then got up and offered him a hand, which he took without thinking.

Then he was suddenly pulled up to his feet and shoved away a few meters.

Yu assumed a defensive stance with both fists held high on a guard. "Don't hold back," he said with not the slightest hint of faltering in his voice.

... Hah. Showed him what to expect from his best friend. "Alright," Yosuke readied himself on a more aggressive stance. His guard was not as high, and he was hopping constantly as if to keep his rhythm.

"Ready?" he asked. He couldn't help but to smile through his grit teeth.

"Come at me already!" his partner nearly shouted.

And go at him he did. He charged forward. The first thing he did was to try a hasty hay maker, but the punch was blocked, then countered with a left jab that hit his cheek dead on.

He did his best to endure the pain and hold his ground as Yu tried to follow up the punch with a left kick to his ribs. He lifted his left knee and used it to block the kick, and as soon as his left foot landed, he raised his right leg for a fast high roundhouse which was barely dodged with a sway. Yu then stepped back to put some distance between the two.

Dammit, Yosuke thought that had him... He faced his partner again, and noticed that he was paying attention to his legs.

Was he conscious of his kicks?

His full smile turned into a smirk. That was his chance.

He charged again and tried a thrust kick aimed for Yu's face, but he sidestepped and used his long reach to hit a right punch to Yosuke's stomach, making him double over. He did not even see where the next two punches came, as one hit his face and made him turn away, and the other hit his chest hard.

The blows hurt and he skidded back a bit, but he would not fall.

He saw Yu rushing towards him with bare teeth and readied himself to meet his charge. A low swipe came, forcing him to block it using his shin before he delivered a kick to Yu's gut.

Seeing the opening, he attempted his own low round kick, which hit the side of Yu's knee full on and made him drop to his other knee with a yell of pain. He seized the opportunity to raise his foot for an ax kick, but that was not a move he practiced often. It was too slow, which allowed him to dodge to the side. Yosuke's eyes widened when he realized he had missed the kick, but only for a split second, because right after that he took a knee to his unguarded ribs which made him scream.

To make matters worse, Yu's heavy fist shut him up by crashing hard against his jaw.

It knocked him down, but he didn't stay there for long. He stood back up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'm not done..." he said. More words were in order, but he was interrupted by another charge, which he had little time to react to.

He was ready, however, and quickly feinted a low kick. Yu was still conscious of his knee, so he readied himself to guard low. Yosuke then threw a hard punch to his face, making him stagger back.

That was his chance to deliver a barrage of punches. The first one hit Yu's cheek, the second one hit his nose, the third one was blocked and the fourth one was ducked under and countered with a quick jab-uppercut combination that killed his advantage. His chin was knocked upwards and that alone almost gave him a whiplash, but then came Yu's left round kick, hitting his ribs like a freight train. And the right hook came right after that, exploding on his face with the extra momentum.

His face turned away and he damn sure almost fell unconscious, but he did his best to stand his ground. He shifted his weight to his right leg to stop himself from falling, then came back with that fast high roundhouse.

Yu was not expecting that and took the kick. And what a kick that was. It rocked his world and he felt as if his head started spinning when the strike connected.

Despite the attack he'd just done, Yosuke was still recovering from that combination. He began to feel dizzy as the pain in his ribs and head kicked in. He clutched his aching side for a moment and panted hard before he shook his head and tried to focus, for he had to endure yet another rush.

Instead of approaching with his guard up, Yu was stepping forward with his left fist ready for an obvious punch. Of course Yosuke wasn't having that. He took the little time he had to aim at his jaw and then...

"Ugh!" Yu yelled as Yosuke's right hit his jaw.

"Aah!" Yosuke cried as Yu's right connected with his chin. Of course that was a feint...

Both punches connected, but neither of them was about to give away. They started trading blows at close range. The two were evenly matched: one had punches that almost broke through the other's guard, while the other had strikes so quick, they almost gave no chance for a counter.

Then Yosuke noticed that his guard only didn't break at the first blocked punch because Yu's blows were slightly slower and weaker than before. He began to see through the punches aimed at his face, and dodged the first one. Then the second one. And the third one. He kept weaving and bobbing, never once losing the respect for the fists flying his way. The tiniest of mistakes could mean a broken nose for him. He stepped back with every dodge and kept in rhythm with Yu's advancing strikes until he was where he wanted.

He ducked under a left hook, granting him the opening he was waiting for. He then delivered a front kick to Yu's chin, which broke his momentum and made him stagger back, and time seemed to slow down as he stepped on the the bench to gain impulse for a vicious flying roundhouse which found its mark with precision, successfully knocking Yu down.

Yosuke landed on the ground and almost lost his balance, but managed to keep his footing. Yeah, that was it!

Then Yu got up and dusted off his shirt, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth.

"Looks like your training sessions with Chie paid off," he stated calmly.

Crap. He wasn't done, either. If that didn't take him out, what in the world would?

... What was he complaining about? They both were supposed to give it their all. He should have been glad that Yu wasn't giving up like that. He should have been glad that he had a friend that strong. And he was very glad, indeed. The smirk found its way back to his face.

That, right there, was Yu Narukami. His partner.

"But you're still going down," he roared as he lunged towards Yosuke once more.

* * *

**Aaaaaand stop. It's been a while since I last wrote a fight. And it's not done, either. ****As always, leave your opinions and critics in the review box below, I am Raidou the 16th... and I approve this message. *thumbs up*. See y'all next chapter.**


	9. I'll Get Even

Yosuke readied himself to stop the charge and block whatever strike came his way, but didn't expect Yu to shoulder rush him. He was pushed back and tried to react quickly with a high kick, but his leg was caught and he was quickly swiped off his feet. His back landed on the ground with an audible thud.

He then saw Yu raise his fist, and instinctively closed his eyes shut while he moved his head to the side to avoid the incoming punch.

He felt the ground under his head shake and heard the unusually loud sound of a fist hitting the ground.

That... that'd be the end of the fight right there.

He opened his eyes and saw Yu readying another punch, so he did what he had to do: use his free leg to kick him off. Only the kick ended up hitting Yu's face as he was about to bring his fist down, which made him stagger back. Yosuke seized the opportunity to roll backwards to stand up and-

Holy shit!

There was a crater on the ground where that punch landed.

Screw being the end of the fight, that'd be the end of his life, no questions asked. What the Hell?!

He looked at Yu: he was panting, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. But something was wrong.

Very wrong.

He was sporting a smirk that kind of reminded Yosuke of his own, but his eyes... they did not match his expression at all. It was like the picture of a smile, glued to the face of a long since dead person. His eyes were beyond vacant. He could always 'feel' his friend when he was around: some kind of warmness that reminded him of who he was, what he meant to him and what he was capable of, but that feeling wasn't there anymore. All of that was absent... lost.

It was like Yu wasn't even there. He couldn't feel his presence.

That was the first time Yosuke felt anything like that. Yu's absence froze him with fear. What was happening? Where was his partner? Who was that in front of him? Was he dreaming?

His reflexes broke him out of his stupor as soon as he heard Yu stomping forward. He was faster than before, as if he wasn't tired at all. Yosuke had to hastily duck under a hay maker, but right after he dodged the punch, he found a knee slamming onto his stomach.

He then felt he was being pulled by his hair, before another knee hit his stomach.

And again.

And again.

He was finally released, only to be shoved back onto the bench, where he landed on his back.

He broke out of his stun, to see Yu readying a stomp kick that'd sandwich him between his foot and the bench. He rolled to the side onto the ground, barely avoiding the strike. Then he turned to see the bench toppled over by the kick.

Yosuke quickly got up and tried to take a stance, but with his fists high and his feet planted on the ground. His smirk was also wiped off his face, turned upside down into a half scowl. His breathing became heavier by the second, as if even the air in his lungs was cowering away from the danger standing in front of him. He wanted to take a step forward and advance, but he couldn't. He was rooted to the ground as Yu began to approach him again to deliver a right. Yosuke put up both of his hands in front of the punch and, surprisingly, he managed to catch the fist.

After the briefest moment of wondering what was going on, Yosuke shook his head and threw his own right while still holding Yu's right hand, but his wrist was caught.

Neither of them found an option other than a headbutt. Both skulls ended up colliding, a nerve right under Yosuke's hairline sent a shock though his body which extended until the tip of his fingers and made his tongue curl, but he wasn't about to give away. "What's gotten into you?!" He nearly shouted with a mixture of fright, frustration and anger as he stared into Yu's still vacant eyes. It was like staring into a pitch black room through a locked window.

"Answer me," he yelled, but there was still no response.

He lost his cool and pulled his head back again to smash his forehead on Yu's nose. Blood started trickling down his nostrils as he faltered back. Yosuke then threw a hard right punch at his face, but again, not even a sound.

Then he threw a left to Yu's cheek. Blood came from the newly open scar, but his face didn't even budge.

"Snap out of this!" Yosuke had enough and spun around for a heavy heel kick. Never once did he manage to execute it so perfectly. His heel slammed with full force on Yu's temple.

...

...

Yu was about to pass out, but only at that moment his conscience was returning to him.

What the Hell happened?

Where had he gone, how much time had passed?

What was his last memory? He was fighting Yosuke... he got up after being knocked down... and then things slowly started to become fuzzy until he could see and hear nothing... and maybe... he remembered fighting against his own force, as if to stop himself from doing something, but it was strange. It was not like just a reflex. It felt like he was actually forcing his own body not to do something. And that happened twice. If so, what was he trying to stop?

A glimpse. Yosuke, somewhat slumped over the bench, his face bleeding from cuts opened by what seemed to be his punches. How come he didn't remember or feel any of that? Or rather, how come he only remembered resisting against the actions of his own body? It was so weird... it was like he was out of himself, his conscience had been suppressed, or disappeared almost completely. But at that moment, he was blacking out due to the blow he had taken to the temple. The blurred vision he still had began to grow dark, until it completely faded to black.

...

**\- Elsewhere - **

Yu woke up in a different place. The lighting was much brighter than the one he was used to before he passed out, so he had to close his eyes shut for a moment.

When he felt ready, he opened his eyes again.

Blue. Everywhere.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." he heard Igor's familiar voice.

He felt a small headache, so he pinched his forehead and tensed up slightly on his seat. "Hello, Igor, Margaret."

"So, you have finally experienced it," Igor said as he adjusted his silk gloves.

"Experienced what...?" Yu asked.

"You have come in contact with The Fallen aspect of your Wild Card ability," Margaret spoke.

Oh. They did explain about that earlier, but his mind was drifting too far away, even in his dreams. He couldn't pay attention to anything, not even to the Velvet Room's advises.

"What does that mean?"

"All humans have a void within themselves called Absence. When one comes in contact with that void, their consciousness allow their senses to take control. Picture yourself leading a carriage, if you will. It is carried by two horses: one represents your emotions, and the other your desires. Touching the Absence is equivalent to letting go of the reins, allowing the horses to run free and take you wherever they wish," Igor began.

"One of the differences between a Wild Card and a normal human is the higher awareness. Have you ever noticed that you view things differently here in the Velvet Room than in the real world? Does it not make you feel as if everything revolves around you?" Margaret asked.

To tell the truth... she was right. Yu always felt that when he was there, everything depended on him. It was another sense of being, meaning, purpose and presence: an unusual focus, which cleared his mind and let every information sink in, for he felt that he was a part of his own duty. It was not him who had to do the actions: he was the actions. He was the hope for the world and he, himself was his own world. However, he didn't remember feeling that, last time he was there.

"That awareness can be 'turned off', if you lose sight of your purpose. There are many ways to touch this Absence and one such way is to break your contract with this place. There are also many levels of contact with the Absence. They range from your everyday misjudgments, preconceptions and disregards until the aspect of yourself with which you came in contact with, The Fallen.

When in that state, your consciousness trades place with your emotions, and your body is no longer controlled by you. It is controlled by the circumstances around you, turning you into a mirror to your experiences, with no regards of what might happen. In the case which led to your visit here, your most prominent emotion was anger. Not only with yourself, but with everything around you. You wanted to pin the blame on something or someone and punish them for the crimes you had judged them guilty of. Therefore, you unleashed your might onto the first thing that was found guilty by your irrational state." Igor said.

"The Absence, however, is not an evil side of yourself. It merely reacts to the situation presented to you. Although almost uncontrollable, it can call upon powers hidden within yourself which your aware self does not even know exist." Margaret stated.

"But I repeat what I said last time I summoned you here. You may lose yourself permanently to the Absence, for it may prove to be an easier and effortless way to deal with life in general. Do not cast your awareness away forever. In your current state, your Fallen aspect is very likely to turn you into a nexus of aggression and make you forget about everything, even those most dear to you." Igor finished.

... Wow. He actually said something direct...

"Also, one last thing: although Wild Cards have a higher awareness, it is not a gift reserved only for Wild Cards. Some people may develop this state, momentarily or permanently, based on their experiences," Margaret added.

That... was a lot to take in. And Yu's headache only intensified, which didn't help. He didn't know what to say. He'd need some time to think about all of that. But he was kind of busy at that moment.

"I should not keep you here any longer. Time is about to resume in your world. Until we meet again..." Yu's vision began to be filled with black dots as Igor said the familiar words.

"Farewell."

...

...

Yosuke watched as Yu nearly fell limp to the floor. He was supposed to be knocked down after that kick, but he was strangely still on his feet with his face turned away. He then saw Yu hunch over, looking like he was going to tumble forward.

And suddenly, he came back to life.

And by 'came back to life', I mean 'crashed his knuckle on Yosuke's chin without a second's warning'.

He staggered back, but recovered soon after. The punch hit hard and made him bite his lip forcefully against his will. He swallowed the blood and took a gander at his partner's face.

"Keep your guard up!" Yu roared, as a smile found its way to his features. "We're not done, yet!"

His eyes... it felt as if his smile matched the live look on his eyes, once again.

He was back.

Yu then darted forward and delivered a strong barrage, as if ordering Yosuke to block his punches. After hastily dodging two punches, he saw that he wasn't going keep up with the rhythm like before. He prepared to block a left jab, but it was a feint. He soon felt a right slamming against his stomach. A strong punch, which made his knees wobble.

Enough hits to the stomach, dammit...

He was going to straighten himself up and take his stance again, but he found an uppercut connecting with his chin. Then an elbow hit his cheek.

The next punch went right over his head, as he began to fall to the ground.

No, that wasn't the end. He still had more to prove. He was not afraid anymore, now that Yu was back to himself. He could win... he could still prove that he was better than Yu. He had to hold his ground and...

...

... Better?

Hah... hahahahah.

Who was he fooling? Yosuke got his answer a long time ago, jealousy and pride were the only things that blinded his eyes to the truth.

In Yu, he'd most likely found the best friend of his life. Not only because he was smarter and stronger, but also because he didn't give himself the right to judge others. Contrary to what he, himself did all that time. Not only to Yu, but to everyone around him.

Since he'd gotten to Inaba, he began looking down on everyone. But with time, that arrogance of his reached higher levels. Every person around him, maybe even Saki, was just an object to him: a tool which he could use to avoid his fear of isolation. He was from the big city, he judged himself more articulated than the other people, both because of the education his parents gave him(as much of a slacker as he allowed himself to be), and because of his past interactions with richer people.

He hated the idea of working in a supermarket. The prospect of dealing with people that were there for the single purpose to order him around was outrageous for him, but his father insisted. And so, to survive his boring shifts, he began to act not like his usual self, but as someone else completely, in an attempt of pleasing his clients. And that habit spread to his daily life. To please was to keep close, and to keep close was to control.

Control... that was what moved him forward through his days. Making a wall of people to block out the loneliness was what he did best, be it by being polite, being the class clown, or whatever facade he was to assume.

Or maybe the wall of people only served to shield his eyes from the real loneliness that he always felt.

But then came Yu. The one who was better at controlling people than him. Far better. And as Yosuke believed, people used to form these walls were being controlled. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he, himself was a part of Yu's wall. And he did not like being controlled.

What was beyond his understanding, however, was that he was not being controlled or looked down upon. Yu saw him as a true friend rather than just another brick in the wall.

And yet, he was blind to that fact.

How foolish.

His back hit the ground. He lost all the will to fight back, as he found the answer he was looking for. He saw clearly the difference between the two of them.

"I... I yield," he said through his panting.

He saw Yu wiping the blood from under his nostrils, then approaching him and squatting down. "So? Found your answer?"

"Yeah. I know why you're better than me, now. I'm just a judgmental, arrogant, spoiled kid. I thought everyone was under me, and their purpose was to make me feel not lonely... but I guess I never looked at myself in the mirror," he trailed off with a deep breath as Yu sat cross legged by his side.

"I just... I just didn't want to feel alone. I kept trying to please everyone so they would stay by my side, but I never really considered their side of the story. I was always concerned about my loneliness and my problems instead of worrying about the other people," he shook his head at himself before he turned to Yu.

"... Wanna hear a funny story," he asked.

Yosuke would have tilted his head if he wasn't laying down.

"You see, I'm a Wild Card. I have a multiple personas because of that. That power is strengthened by the bonds I make with other people."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well... what if I told you I used people just to get more powerful?"

That caught Yosuke's attention.

"... What?"

"I am supposed to befriend people, solve their problems, make their lives better so that they become better people. In return, I understand these people and gain their affection. By understanding more people, I understand myself better: I become more 'whole'. That bigger understanding I have of myself is where my strength comes from, so I was told.

After thinking about that, I really thought about going on that altruist mission to understand people, but in the process, I ended up understanding myself less and less. I had to put up so many personalities, sometimes three or four in the same day... it was extremely tiring. I had to disregard myself for others: only their problems mattered. And so I started to develop my own problems. What was worse: I kept it all for myself and I found no way to really let it out. That routine of being emotional crutch for others was starting to become an obligation and a burden, I began to divert myself from it. I turned my interactions into a game of 'how much power can I get from it.'

In the end, I lost myself in the everyday life. I only had time to be myself when I got home, but even then I had Nanako and uncle Dojima to take care of. Sometimes I'd just lock myself in my room and play my bass at night, even though I knew I'd only have few minutes before uncle came knocking on my door to complain about the noise," Yu's eyes drifted away for a brief moment as he reminisced.

Yosuke just listened. To think his friend had so much in his mind... he was always calm and collected, always on top of his game. It was hard to believe he struggled so much.

"But then I got to know you people better: you, Yukiko, Chie, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, Naoto... you all taught me a lot. In fact, I relearned to value other people's friendships because of you. Maybe it was because I took upon myself the duty of making sure I didn't lose any of you. My first step forward after that was to mend uncle's relationship with Nanako... that was something that made me proud of myself and made me remember that I had a purpose. Maybe that's what you need. Something or someone that makes you remember your purpose. Do you have anyone or anything you're fighting for? Don't worry, it's okay if you don't."

Yosuke began thinking. He had people he cared about, sure, but it was hard to remember a moment when he thought of anything from outside when he was in the TV World. Thoughts along the lines of 'I'll fight to catch this criminal so that he doesn't threaten anyone I care about' were far more rare than the 'If I catch this criminal, I'll be recognized by people' kind. And that was very worrying. But if the former of the kinds of thoughts was to be related directly with someone, aside from his family...

"... Chie."

"I see. Could you explain why?"

"Well," Yosuke began picking words to continue. How to describe what she meant to him? "Maybe because of everything she's done for me. She was by my side ever since I got here and, aside from you, she was the one who helped me get over Saki the most. Even though we were always bickering because of petty things just for laughs, she forgave me after I committed the biggest mistake of my life. She even taught me some kicks so I didn't have to rely only in my hands in fights... I guess she's the one I fight for the most," he trailed off for a second. "I'd like to say that I fight for you, too, but I don't think you really need that much protection... you are the strongest out of us, after all."

"I already told you, I'm only strong because of all of you. I'm nothing by myself," Yu answered, his voice a bit lower than normal.

A brief moment of silence followed.

"By the way," Yosuke began. "... Where were you?"

Yu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You seemed kind of... I dunno... out of it? During the fight. What happened?"

"Well," Yu trailed off for a moment. If Yosuke didn't know any better, he'd guess his partner was making a decision. But he knew Yu was just tired and was trying to gather his thoughts. After letting out the air he was holding, Yu continued. "Just a side effect of my power. Everything that's been going on is messing with my mind and, well, our power comes from our minds. I'll deal with it soon enough, don't worry."

Yosuke gave him a concerned look. They all were going through a lot, but the toll it must have been taking on his friend... he could take a guess before, but now he knew that it was unimaginable. "... I know I can't do much for you, but here," Yosuke dug through his pocket. "You can have this." He handed Yu a box of bandages. "That should take care of the outside wounds."

Yu took the box. "Thanks a lot."

A minute of silence followed, and Yosuke looked up at the sky. He spent the quiet moment reflecting about everything that's happened up until that moment, almost like his life passed in a flash before his eyes.

He sneered to himself and sighed before breaking the silence. "The sky's so high up... When I was a kid, I used to think that the stars were people that went to the sky."

It was true: since his parents told him that old story, he'd spent minutes, or even hours counting the people up there and trying to guess their names. He rarely did so, now that he was older, but the memory remained. "Are they watching over us now?"

"I'm sure they are." Yu answered as he raised his head.

"In that case," Yosuke stood up, still looking at the stars. Or rather, the people up there. "Do you all see that? From now on, I'll fight to protect what's dear to me to the bitter end! Cause that's what I live for!" he yelled, earning a smile from Yu.

Suddenly, something strange started taking over his mind.

Everything felt light... like the world had fallen from his shoulders. He felt no pain anymore and he was overcome by a peace he'd never felt before.

Yosuke was surrounded by a blue fire and his persona, Jiraya, appeared above his head. Then, the flames engulfed both him and his persona, but it didn't burn. It was cold, actually. When the fire died down, his persona was completely different. It wore a blue jumpsuit, with red gloves and boots. On its face was a mask that had a circular blade spinning around it. Its hair was red and spiraled upwards, much like a fiery twister. Lastly, it had a huge saw blade spinning around its waist.

Yosuke recognized it as Susano-O, the slayer of Orochi.

"So, this is my true power?" he said before helping Yu to his feet. "Thanks for showing me, partner"

Yu smiled. "Anytime..." he said as he held out his hand for a fist bump. "Partner," he continued before Yosuke completed the brofist.

**CRASH!**

**Thou art I... And I am thou...**

**Thou hast established a genuine bond...**

**These genuine bonds... shall be your eyes to see the truth.**

**We bestow upon thee the ability to create Vayu, the ultimate form of the Magician Arcana...**

Time returned to its normal flow as Yu spoke again.

"So, you ready to take on the prince of darkness?"

"Pffft. We'll wipe the floor with his face..." Yosuke yawned. "After I sleep these bruises away. You pack some brutal punches, man."

"Your kicks were also hard to deal with. That ninja roundhouse you did nearly made me break my spine..."

They kept talking about the fight until it was time for them to part ways to their houses.

...

...

Yosuke stopped in front of his house and looked up.

"The prince of darkness, huh?"

"Bring it on!"

...

...

Yu stopped in front of his house and pulled the box of bandages Yosuke gave him from his pocket.

He gave the box a long look before he stored it away again.

Shaking his head, he supported himself on the wall by the side of the door to his house and looked down at the ground.

"Yesterday's sorrows... tomorrow's white lies..." he murmured to himself before he entered the household.

* * *

**Aaaaaaaaaaaaand done. Took me a while to finish this chapter. Anyway, critics and comments in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th... *thumbs up* and I approve this message. Til next chapter, y'all. **


	10. Twist Of Fate: Star

**Hello guys, and welcome to another chapter. Same old same old, I don't own anything and bla bla bla. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

...

...

"Where am I?"

Teddie woke up in the middle of... somewhere. Somewhere filled with with the thickest fog, though it was not the TV world. He was standing on a road with nothing else in sight. The place felt strange, yet somewhat familiar.

"How did I get here? Oh, that's right..." he lowered his head. Just then he noticed that he wasn't wearing his bear costume, but that didn't matter. What truly mattered was...

"Nana-chan..."

He remembered everything. He was at the hospital, praying for the little girl to come around, but she never did. He lost his conscience to the sound of the infinite and constant beep of the monitor by the side of the girl's bed.

He'd lost the one he vowed to protect and broke his promises to her.

Maybe that was why he was there: he didn't have a purpose in the human world anymore.

He started to walk forward without any real destination, his blue eyes cast down all the way, devoid of any hope.

Hm.

Hope.

Sensei once told him that his Arcana was The Star and that it meant hope. Funny. If he failed to serve as Nana-chan's hope, what was he living for?

What kind of hope was he?

For a moment he wished to die, but what if he went to the same place as Nanako? He couldn't face her. She probably hated him right now and would probably hate him forever, too.

He was still absently walking forward. He didn't know why, but he was. He looked around: the fog was pure white, while the fog in the TV world had a slight green tint. Strange. What was that fuzzy feeling in his chest?

Why was that place so familiar?

He stopped walking. A massive headache made him drop to his knees. The familiar blue fire started surrounding him, but Kintoki Douji's card was not present. Suddenly, the fire turned purple and engulfed Teddie's whole body. He felt as if his head was being split open and screamed in pain. After the huge surge of power, the fire died down.

He stood up, only to be met with the sight of...

Himself.

But something was not right. The copy's aura was not as menacing as that of a Shadow. Its eyes... instead of eyes, the copy had two orbs of a clear blue crystal which reflected his image like a mirror. It showed no expression whatsoever and its feet weren't touching the ground.

"Greetings." The copy spoke. Teddie was still a bit dazed, despite his sadness.

"Who are you? You're not my Shadow, are you?"

"Indeed I am not. I am neither Shadow or persona."

"What are you, then?" Teddie questioned. He thought about taking a defensive stance, but for some reason he felt as if there was no need to.

"I am the Mirror of the soul. I present myself to those who wander the collective unconscious in search for themselves. Deep within your soul, you claim that you do not have a reason to exist. You have also asked yourself who you really are for a long time. That is why I am here. I shall show you the answer to your questions."

He had those answers?! For how long was Teddie looking for them?

However, there was nothing to be excited about. It'd be no use for him or to anyone, since he had nowhere to go back to. The smile growing on his face quickly faded. But hey... at least he was getting his answers.

The Mirror's eyes started emitting a warm glow. "Look into my eyes, and witness the truth of your existence."

Teddie looked into the blue crystal balls. He started walking closer, as if he was being drawn to the brightness of the Mirror's eyes. As he got closer, his reflection's eyes flashed a different color. Each time shifting to a different tone, until he could get the clearest view of his own eyes. His jaw dropped as realization dawned upon him.

He saw his irises glowing a solid yellow. That only meant one thing.

"This is the truth, Teddie. You are, were, and will always be a Shadow. You had an odd potential... the power to develop an ego, so that you could interact with humans. You should also recall that this is not the first time that we met."

Teddie still couldn't believe it. But thinking about it, that shouldn't be so surprising. He lived in the TV world from the beginning... a beginning he didn't even remember. He belonged in the TV world because he was nothing but a Shadow.

Wait...

Perhaps the memory had returned to him.

Back then, he heard a voice. That voice asked him something that he didn't comprehend, yet he understood it perfectly. He just answered 'yes', then a bright light engulfed everything. After that, he found himself as the bear costume. That was his beginning. He didn't remember which form he had prior to that, however. Perhaps that was part of the transition: to forget what he was before.

"This is your true nature. To deny it, is to deny yourself. Do you acknowledge this fact?" The Mirror asked.

Teddie looked up at the Mirror again. The tears had stopped coming from his eyes.

"Yeah, I know that. All this time, I've been just a Shadow. No wonder I couldn't fulfill my purpose in the human world: I didn't belong there... What do I do now?"

"Look within yourself, and the answer will heed your call." As the Mirror said that, the noise of a car grinding to a halt was heard nearby.

Teddie sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He saw himself fighting. Against what, he wasn't sure. He was powerful and had a strong resolve. It was like he was fighting to protect something he didn't know what was. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were glowing yellow.

Teddie understood it then.

"The choice is yours to make. Though I warn you: there will be no turning back. Either you keep your ego and wander here aimlessly until you find another answer, or you give it away and go back to being a Shadow, fighting to protect your realm. You are a very special being: you are your own Shadow, thus, you have the right to make this choice."

Teddie thought hard about what the mirror said. It's true that he didn't have a purpose. He couldn't keep his only promise, after all. Maybe there wasn't another answer. He would stay there forever if he was to try and find another way. And even if he could get out, what would Sensei and the others say? He failed. He himself was a failure.

Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want his ego anymore.

Then, he wouldn't have to live with the pain of being who he was. He wouldn't have to worry about anything . He would be free. But he would most likely lose all the memories of his beloved friends. All the time they spent together would vanish. But they were probably wishing that they never met Teddie in the first place, anyway.

"Have you made your decision?"

He nodded. Tears started flowing from his eyes. That was for the best of everyone.

"Yeah. But can I do something first?" He wiped his tears, but they wouldn't stop coming.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." Teddie stood up and walked towards the parked car that stopped there a while ago. It was a huge, black limousine, its windows were dark blue. He knew what that car was, but he wasn't sure how he knew it. He simply touched the doorknob and the world turned blue.

There was no one there, but suddenly, a bright light filled the whole room and when it died down, he found none other than Sensei sat on the chair across him.

"Huh? Teddie, is that you? We were so worried about you! Where have you been? And why are you here?"

"I'm okay, now. I just discovered what I truly am. I was just a Shadow from the beginning." Teddie wiped more teas. Yu looked at him with a bit of surprise. "So, I'm going back to the other side. I couldn't keep my promise, so it's for the best."

"But... Teddie, I don't care that you're a Shadow. You can stay with us. Come on, let's go home. Everybody's waiting."

"You've always been so kind to me. I doubt the others would still want me around. I came here to say goodbye. And Sensei... when you meet Nana-chan in heaven... tell her I'm sorry."

Yu bit his bottom lip. "But, Teddie..."

"Now I've got a place to stay. A place that I shouldn't have ever left... thank you for everything." Teddie sobbed once.

Only then he noticed there was a card resting on the side of his chair. It was empty, albeit stained with one of his tears. "And goodbye." he started vanishing, only to leave Yu behind.

"... What the-?! No, you can still stay with us! Nobody wants you to leave! Teddie?! Teddie!" he screamed, but none of his pleads were enough to make the Shadow stay.

He was back outside the car. Silently, he walked back towards the Mirror.

"... I'm ready now."

"I will ask you once more: are you sure? There will be no turning back. You will deny your human soul and it will remain this way forever. Your memories will disappear and you will go back to being a normal Shadow. Is this the answer for your life?"

"Yes."

Silence

"Very well."

The Mirror joined his hands in front of his face and Teddie began to feel something strange. As he separated his hands, two butterfly wings appeared. They flew towards each other and united themselves to form a strange, yet beautiful blue butterfly. Teddie felt a sudden peace, like he was in harmony with everything around him. But that didn't last long, as the Mirror clapped his hands and the butterfly lost its warm glow, only to fall dead on the ground.

"Soon, you will walk the new path that you chose. Your soul will not be part of the collective unconscious anymore. I bid you farewell, for we will not meet again." The Mirror stared blankly at the former Teddie. He had a very kind soul, a strong will, his aura was clearer than that of many a human... but alas, he made his choice.

He saw the Shadow's eyes slowly turn yellow, his fangs turn sharp and his claws grow deadly. He was no longer the one who learned how to be liked by humans.

The world around it began to shift and warp and it found itself on a road, surrounded by rumbles of a broken city and under a black and red sky. It wandered around aimlessly, but suddenly, it heard voices in the distance.

"Teddie!" The boy with silver hair spoke loudly.

"Teddie, is that you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" The girl in green said.

"Come on, let's go home, you idiot!" Said the boy with brown hair.

So those are the ones who brave the hollow forest to kill those of its kind. Something snapped inside it. He could only think about one thing.

Attack!

* * *

**Welp, that one's done. As always, leave your comments and critics as a review in the box below, I'm Raidou the 16th... and RIP Simon the Smooth.**


	11. Foreclosure Of A Dream

**Aaaaaaand sup guys? Back with another chapter. **

**I don't own anything. On that note, let's get this stared.**

* * *

Yu slept like a log the day before. The tiredness, the pain and the still lingering bad and good vibes shut him off for the whole night without fail. Upon waking up, he sat up on his futon and ran his hands down his face. He was still very much tired... he wasn't sure he'd survive classes without nodding off.

He got up and picked the pack of bandages which he'd left by the side of the TV in his room, took out two of the bigger bandages and put them over his most prominent bruises. He'd already treated the wounds the day before: his only concern was the pain that was bound to go away soon, but he thought he'd show Yosuke some consideration, that day.

He couldn't stop himself from staring at his TV. Sometimes, he'd just poke the screen the watch the ripples run across its surface like a child idly throws rocks at a lake. And he did so this time. The image reflected on the screen became more opaque every second as the usual black and white rings followed the ripples.

That was the first screen he'd ever gone through. Basically, where it all began.

Hm...

He took his fingers off the screen and began preparing for the long school day.

...

**-Yasogami High, classroom building-**

Surprisingly enough, Yu stayed awake during the classes, but didn't learn as much as he thought he should have from them. After the final bell rang, Yosuke and Chie came to his desk.

"Well, class was a doozy," the former stated.

"You can say that again. I had my head elsewhere for most of the time. Speaking of heads, how's yours?" Yu asked, motioning to his own cheek as if to point Yosuke's most prominent cut. He noticed the usually upbeat girl was a bit too quiet...

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Me and Chie were going to chill at Junes for a while. You coming along?"

Yu was about to say yes, but he saw Yukiko getting up out of the corner of his eye. She was going to leave soon...

"How about we get everyone together, then? Yukiko," he called out to her. She turned around almost automatically. "We're going to Junes. Do you want come along?"

"Sorry, I'll pass. Things are pretty busy now at the inn, so... I'll be going," she replied.

Upon closer inspection, she still was very much tired. Wrong move of him to ask her to go out at a time like this one, but hey. Asking is free, he guesses. Besides, he'd need to solve her issue one day or the other.

"Okay, then... later," he and Yosuke said the last word in unison.

"Are we going to call Rise and Kanji," the latter proposed.

"Yeah, I guess," Yu said as he stood up. "Chie, aren't you coming?"

The brunette took a while to look away from her cellphone screen. "Oh, sure," she said as she pocketed the device away.

The three left the classroom and descended the stairs to find Kanji by the bulletin board, talking to a student with some papers in his his hands. Before they got to the two, the student turned around and walked away, throwing the papers in the nearby bin as he left.

The three approached him. "Hey, Kanji," Yosuke greeted. "Wanna go to the Junes? My treat."

The tall teen took a brief moment to turn around to face the three. "Uh, no, thanks. I, uh..." he scratched his head. "Gotta go buy some things."

"Oh, that's too bad..." Yu said. "By the way, have you seen Rise around?"

"She's taken off, already. I didn't even get to talk to her, she just up and left."

Something's... off. Yu couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but he he got that lingering feeling.

He'd need to deal with Kanji later.

"Oh, well... then see you later, Kanji-kun." Chie said, looking up from her cellphone one more time.

"Later," he said as turned around to walk off.

"... well, I guess it's just us. Shall we get going?" Yosuke asked.

No objections were raised. Yu just stopped to look at the bulletin board for a second.

It was empty.

After noticing that, he and the group left the building.

...

**-Junes, Food Court- **

Yosuke paid Yu and Chie steak and some cans of soda. The conversation revolved around trivial things, as if they were trying to get their minds off their week. Without willing to interfere with the good vibes, the silver haired teen decided to just pay attention to Chie instead of asking her straight out. She seemed to be pretty okay with his presence, but she would check her phone every now and then. She wasn't the type to keep staring at a phone so attentively... she seemed worried with something.

Yu thought 'something' as if he didn't know what or whom she was worried about.

He decided to leave her be.

They spent the time eating and drinking over some much needed small talk. The get together ended with a light atmosphere that managed to hide the tension well.

Chie finished her meal(s) and got up to leave, saying that she had to be home early that day. She waved goodbye and left the place, leaving Yu and Yosuke alone.

A moment of silence followed until she was out of sight.

"... well, I'm glad she's worried about Yukiko... I guess," Yosuke spoke.

"For her to keep looking at her phone every now and then... that might mean the inn is not the only problem she's facing, right now... far from it. But that's stating the obvious," Yu said as he shook his head. "Thanks for the meal, by the way."

He got a good look at Yosuke. He had smiled to acknowledge Yu's gratitude, but he did take slightly longer than he should have. It was like he wasn't paying full attention... his smile quickly faded away and he threw a glance at the way Chie had gone.

"... Hey, I didn't ruin any plans, did I?" Yu asked.

"Huh?"

"Did you want to be alone with her?"

"Well, I-uh,"

"It was me who got the idea of gathering everyone. If you just invited me to play it cool, that's fine. I'm sorry."

"... It's me who's sorry, man." Yosuke said, before he exhaled and leaned back on his chair. "I just... I don't know," he shook his head.

"I understand. I'd do the same in your position, a while back."

"... my position?"

Yu raised an eyebrow. "You like her, don't you?"

Yosuke looked away, pinched his forehead and took a deep breath. "More than I should," he said under is breath, but loud enough for his friend to hear.

"More than you should? I don't see why you shouldn't like her."

"Well, it is more than I should... because I don't only like her."

... Oh.

"And that is not okay because...?"

"It might be okay with you, but what about her? What guarantee do I have that she feels the same?"

... No use pushing his doubt. "That's your call, I guess." Yu shrugged.

Yosuke took the hair from in front of his eyes and crossed his legs, before folding his arms. "Just don't tell anyone, dude."

"Rest assured, I won't." Yu looked to the side. "Oh. Look who's there."

Out of the automatic doors came Louis, accompanied by a red haired, darker skinned man. He was wearing a huge brown overcoat which was closed, revealing little more then his grey boots. His hair was tied in dreadlocks, he had three white stripes painted on each of his cheeks and a red goatee.

"So, how was it?" Louis asked the man.

"It felt very different from anywhere I've been. It felt heavier... oppressing, for a few seconds. I grew used to it quickly, however." the other man replied, as they got closer to the table where Yu and Yosuke were at.

"I see." Louis nodded to the man. "Hello," he greeted the two. "May we have a seat?"

Yosuke frowned for a moment and looked at Yu, who returned the glance and sighed. "Sure, why not?"

The two men took their seats around the table. "I believe you haven't been introduced to him, yet. Yu, Yosuke, this is Lupa, one of the residents in the Sanctuary."

The newly introduced man nodded at the two teenagers. They nodded back. He seemed... very serious. His features were very stern, but not out of hostility: it was clear that he was showing respect towards the two.

"He's been watching your journey, as well." Louis continued.

"Are you a demon, too," Yosuke asked.

"No. I am but a free human."

... Free human?

"Such modesty. We came here to both introduce you to him and to ask if you have decided when you will accept my challenge."

"We didn't think about it yet... But right now, I'm thinking Sunday, maybe." Yu said. They'd have to go through that sooner or later. "Yosuke, what do you think?"

"... Yeah, I guess. Sunday is fine with me. I've nothing to do then, anyway," the brunette replied, his uneasiness showing cleanly through his speech.

"Alright, at least you have an idea when you'll be set. That is a start. I'll be expecting you, then. Excuse me..." Louis said as he stood up from his chair. "Narukami, have this," he laid a small golden box on the table. The boy grabbed it and opened its lock, revealing what seemed to be a quill... a very pompous quill. The feather's shaft seemed to be made of a clear sapphire, which turned to an even clearer green at the tip. The feather itself was a bright, immaculate white, and seemed to emit a warm gloom.

"What is this?"

"This is your key to a path of light." Louis said, as Yu took the quill from the box and tried to poke his own hand using the quill. To his surprise, there was nothing inside the shaft. It was just a very sharp feather. What surprised him the most, however, was the fact that it disappeared from his hands.

Both he and Yosuke blinked twice as Louis continued. "Worry not, it's still with you. Call upon it when you feel the need."

"Well... thanks, I guess. How do I use it?"

"That is for you to find out. We'll be taking our leave. Lupa," the red haired man nodded back. "We've been also deploying doors to the Sanctuary in this world. Search for them, if you feel compelled to. Farewell," he said, before walking away with Lupa.

... "Why Sunday?" Yosuke asked.

"Because none of us have nothing to do. I think so, anyway. And It gives us time to do things, as well."

"You're right... Wait. Us?"

"Yes, you also have things to do." Yu went over to his partner's side and patted him on the shoulder. "You have a heart to win."

Yosuke gave a small smile. "... Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Don't worry, everything's gonna go alright. I need to take off, have to go get some things. Later, man."

"Later."

Yu left Yosuke to his own thoughts at the food court. Next thing on schedule: see about that Vayu persona.

He went to the shopping district and entered the blue door by the side of Daidara's Metalworks.

...

**-Velvet Room-**

A blinding light covered Yu's vision just like always, only to fade and give way to the familiar sight of blue.

"Hello, my dear guest." Igor greeted.

"Hello. I'd like to do some fusing today."

"Certainly. But before we get to that, I'd like you to know something."

"What is it?"

"Your bonds" Igor waved his hand and all the 21 Arcanum he had appeared before him, making a spinning wheel. "Are no longer reversed. You had reversed them yourself, when you chose to believe that you had betrayed your friends and loved ones."

The wheel stopped when the Fortune and the Justice were right in front of Yu's eyes.

"Although the hearts that strengthened these bonds are gone, you still share an unbreakable tie with these people. Not even Death itself can deny this fact." Naoto... Nanako... he struggled to maintain his composure. They were indeed people that he very much treasured and loved.

Huh. What would he say to them if they were still alive?

He chose to remain quiet as Igor continued. "Though, these," the reversed Priestess and Emperor appeared before Yu "Are nigh broken. You will receive no blessings from these Arcanum, until you right this situation."

Figures. Of course the Priestess would be reversed. The Emperor was not that obvious, but Yu couldn't disagree. He'd to sort all of this later, but for then...

"So, fusions. How do I make Vayu?"

Igor raised an eyebrow, then his grin came back to his face. He wasn't going to question the Sparks, after all.

After yens and yens worth of personae, he fused Shiva, Parvati and Rangda to create Vayu, The Breath Of Life. He was mainly a grey humanoid demon. His arms seemed to be crossed under a light green shawl that stretched a bit past his knees. He was standing on one foot, probably because his left foot had large big and seemingly deadly sharp blades: one coming from the 'toes' and another coming from the heel. His legs had black and white stripes, too. Last, but definitely not least, his head was divided by a big, vertical mouth with sharp teeth, that went from where his chin should have been, to the back of his neck.

**I am thou... Thou art I...**

**From the sea of thy soul I cometh...**

**I am Vayu, the god of the northern winds.**

The card descended slowly until it reached Yu's hand, then disappeared.

"This one is powerful. What is this... resonance...?"

Igor chuckled. "You shall find that out in due time. Now, are you in need of anything else?"

"Yes, actually. I need a healer..."

And so it went, until Yu left the Velvet Room with Ishtar, Vayu, Thor, a new Loki, now with Ziodyne and Megidola, a new and upgraded Surt and his long time companion, Izanagi. After he was done, he left for his home.

**...**

**-Dojima Residence-**

Yu got home quite early. He did not want to turn on the TV, so he went upstairs to read a book. It was about a boy who found a small book inside some sweet bread... and it started taking on a huge trip. A purple, perfect drink, midget villages with people representing cards and suits... Although strange, it was an interesting read. It took quite a bit of his time.

He decided to go to bed early today, to get a rest from the mental strain that he was suffering from, due to all the faking and repressing he had to do today. As he fell asleep, he felt his conscience being called upon.

**-Velvet Room-**

"Huh? Teddie is that you? Goddamit, we were so worried about you! Where have you been? And why the hell are you here?" Yu asked a barrage of questions.

"I'm okay, now. I discovered what I truly am. I was just a Shadow from the beginning." Teddie wiped some tears. He looked at the blondie with a bit of surprise, but was it really that surprising?

He continued. "So, I'm going back to the other side... forever. I couldn't keep my promise anyway, so it's for the best." His voice was quivering as he spoke.

...

No. No, nonono. Not another one!

Yu bit his bottom lip as he tried to choose his words to the best of his abilities, which were being unknowingly clouded by his emotions. The corner of his eyes began to sting a bit. "But, I don't care that you're a Shadow. You can stay with us. Come on. let's go home. Everybody's waiting."

"You've always been so kind, Sensei. I doubt the others would still want me around." Teddie began.

Fuck! Yu used singular first person in that sentence! Think of something to fix that, quick! The despair was visible in his eyes.

Teddie continued "So I came here to say goodbye. And, Sensei... when you meet Nana-chan in Heaven," he sniffed. There was a slight pause before he continued. "Tell her I'm sorry," he said and couldn't fight back the tears, his voice was fully distorted by the sorrow and sadness of his crying.

Neither could Yu win the fight against his feelings, as he himself shed a tear. "But... Teddie..." As much as he called, no words came. He didn't have an argument, then. Not even one to convince himself that the ball of kindness and fur was not going away.

"Now I got a place to stay. A place I shouldn't have left in the first place. So, Sensei... Thank you." There was a card resting by the arm of Teddie's couch, which was now stained with his tears. "And goodbye."

**CRASH!**

**Thou art I... And I am thou...**

His image began to fade away, only to leave Yu screaming in despair.

**Thou hast established a genuine bond...**

"Teddie! No!" Yu shouted, but he just lowered his head and closed his eyes, as if to brush off Yu's voice.

**These genuine bonds... shall be your eyes to see the truth.**

"You can stay with us! Nobody wants you to leave!" Although loud, the words were not reaching Teddie's ears. It was a if his senses were somewhere else already, far from the reach of Yu's desperate pleadings.

**We bestow upon thee the ability to create Pollux, the ultimate form of the Star Arcana...**

"Teddie! Teddie!" Yu screamed from the top of his lungs, though it was as if he had no voice whatsoever, as Teddie's image completely faded away from his view, leaving him alone in the Velvet Room. His silent tears turned into a full cry, as he felt his consciousness fading.

* * *

**Well, that's pretty much it. Please, Review, leave your opinion, tell me if you liked it, and please, tell me what you think of the ideas that I brought to the plot. It's kinda hard to come up with this much stuff, even harder to make it all seem right. So, critics and comments in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th... and I approve this message. *thumbs up*Also, shoutouts to The Devil Hunter Shade. Thanks, yo.**


	12. Wake Up Dead

**And another update. As always, I don't own anything, blahblahblah, let's get this started, already.**

* * *

Yu woke up in the next morning with his head laying on a wet pillow and rubbing his stingy eyelids. Looked like he cried while asleep. He went to the bathroom to wash his face, maybe try to make himself believe that all of that was just a dream, but as much as the cold water splashed against his face, its attempts to wake him from his day-nightmare were all in vain. He was sure that Teddie did indeed leave him... them.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror: it looked pathetic. Its eyes were red, its hair was a mess, its face showed all kinds of bad feelings, despair, hopelessness, a hint of fear, sorrow, regret... it was just a matter of time before more tears formed in the corner of its eyes and fell softly, rolling down the reflection's pale cheeks.

Funny.

All this while, Yu was trying to convince himself that all of this was happening to his reflection, not him.

What a fool.

He lowered his head and supported himself on the faucet, his elbows wobbling, much like his knees. He let the knots on his throat untie themselves into loud, but powerless sobs, hiccups and screams. No one would listen, anyway. Why was all of that happening? Why was everyone disappearing? Was he going to be all alone... again? What was his problem? Was he not strong enough to keep everyone dear to him close? Did he have that light of a grasp, to let everyone slip between his fingers?

Yu clenched his right fist: it went from its usual color to a bloodless white, then to a bloody red as his nails dug through his skin.

It didn't hurt at all.

He looked at himself in the mirror again. That time, he saw his face twisted in anger, almost hatred. He screamed and punched his reflection in the face, completely shattering the mirror. Now his right had blood all over, shards of glass were sticking on his knuckle.

It didn't hurt at all.

He looked at his hand again as a tear fell on it, right upon a fresh cut.

It actually burned and stung a lot. Like vinegar in an open wound.

Yu's feet absently dragged him back to his room. Wasn't he supposed to be the Wild Card? Wasn't he supposed to have the strength to protect everyone? He was supposed to not let anyone go away... so... why? There had to be something wrong with him, but what? What could it be?

"Raaagh!" He suddenly roared and kicked the nearest object, which happened to be his black and white bass. Now, it laid broken in half on the ground.

He then sat on his sofa, with his hands cupping his face. He didn't care about the blood. He looked at he clock: class was already underway. He just went back to sobbing away at the loss of those he loved for the rest of the day.

...

Yu groggily got up on the next morning, still very much down. He had skipped two days of class in one week... mental note: try not to do that, anymore.

He took a shower, finally washing away the blood on his hand, put on his fingerless black gloves to hide most of the bandages that wrapped around his right and went to school.

For that day and the next, all he focused on was trying to hide the fact that Teddie was gone forever. A job that was made all the harder by Yosuke's frequent questions about him.

Yukiko would avoid him, his partner would leave early, Chie would be on the phone all day and also leave early, Kanji would stay at the school and Rise...

He didn't even get to see Rise.

Then Friday came.

Yu made a point to try and forget all that happened by making himself worry with more mundane tasks, such as buying a new bass after school.

And go to school he did.

Yosuke was absent that day, though he paid the fact little mind. After the school day was over, he took a bus to Okina and headed to the music store. After searching for some fifteen minutes a red and black, used Gibson SG standart bass caught his interest. It was surprisingly cheap, too. He took it mainly because of his constant impatience and the fact that he might probably break it again soon. What with all the drama going on.

He'd been seriously thinking about stepping his game up and buying a guitar, though not now. He still had a bit to learn before that day came. For the time being, he was happy enough. He paid for the bass and encased it before waiting for the bus back to Inaba.

Speaking of drama, he hasn't really spoken to Yukiko since Friday and she wasn't looking much at his face, either. He needed to speak with her, but not before dealing with the trouble he already had on his plate.

He didn't want to involve her in battles or dangerous affairs, anymore, and seriously doubted that she was going to forgive him. But they needed to at least have a talk. After all, he did still love her. Why he loved her... he didn't know, but he didn't care. You don't choose that kind of thing, right...?

The stroll back to his house was pretty much uneventful, save for the recurrent thoughts about how to approach Yukiko, until he decided to go through the shopping district.

Where he saw Kanji fighting against five dudes.

Holy crap! There was no way he could take them all down...

Then Yu saw the three punks that were already on the ground. He looked back at the tall teenager and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

Meh. He should be fine. But then... he needed somewhat of stress relief. Music started playing in his ear buds.

Hmmm. He looked at his (still gloved) hands, then at the bass that was encased behind his back. Not many people were around...

Screw it. He was going to help, Kanji liking it or not. But first...

...

The bleach haired young man faced the thug wearing a cap. He had other targets as well, but he had to focus on the closest one. Besides, he was clearly hiding something in his sleeve. The thug suddenly flicked his wrist and a switch blade slid into his hand. Nice sleight of hand. Things just got a bit ugly, but Kanji couldn't let himself look afraid.

"Tch! Using a knife on a fist brawl? Useless piece of shit!" Kanji snarled, unfaltering. The punk took the taunt and lunged forward untill... untill...

Was that a fucking guitar he saw flying at the dude's face? Oh, crap, he vocalized it.

"No. It's a bass, actually," the instrument's owner said as he picked the bass up from the ground and rested it on his shoulder like a baseball bat. "Need help?"

Kanji just glanced at him with some disbelief. He thought about flipping him off, but he really needed the help. Sure, he already took out two of them and he still didn't trust the guy, but the help was still very much needed. He just mutter a profanity under his breath and turned to face his opponents.

"Thought so." Yu said as he turned to face the thugs himself. They were still dumbstruck by the fact that their ally was knocked out by a flying bass. Eventually, one of them broke out of his daze.

"Uhh... What are you morons doing? Get'em," said the one wearing a beanie. Him and the other three lunged forward.

Yu pointed the bass at the oncoming thugs as if calling a shot. He waited for the right moment to feint a slash-like low swing at the beanie wearing one. It made him flinch and gave enough time to do a spin swing at the other punk that was coming for him, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Kanji was doing a good job on blocking and dodging both his opponents' strikes. He didn't even know Tatsumi could dodge strikes. Maybe he had something planned. Ah, whatever. Yu still had business to attend to, like beating the next dude's head in.

He tried a high swing at the punk's head, but he ducked. Then he lost his cool and tried an overhead strike but it was sidestepped, leading to his bass being smashed on the ground and broken in half. Meh. Was gonna happen sooner or later.

He just threw the remainders of the instrument away and taunted his beanie wearing opponent. Looked like he was just waiting for this to happen, because he lunged forward like a mad bull, trying to land a hay maker. "Not so tough now, huh?!"

Ole

Yu ducked, then threw a hard body blow at the dude's side, which made him double over. He didn't miss the chance hit a flying knee on the punk's chin to knock him out.

He turned to see how Kanji was doing: he was spartan kicking one of his opponents' gut, then he followed with a vicious chopping right, knocking him out cold.

Now, Yu could simply watch him take care of the last one, but that wouldn't be fun. He casually walked towards the punk and put a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around he was met with a hard right fist to the temple. But why wasn't he falling?

Oh.

Kanji had punched him at the same time.

That was going to hurt in the morning.

Eventually, they let go of the 'brofist' and let the poor sod fall limp to the ground. Yu looked at the eight unconscious bodies sprawled on the floor around him. Wow... Oh, right! He had to ask Kanji some stuff. First of all, show concern.

"Are you okay?" Yu asked as he walked over to him.

He just wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I'm fine... Just a little tired."

Yu gave a brief glance around himself. "Uhh, why were you fighting eight dudes at once, if I may ask?"

Kanji took a look at his surroundings. That was a lot of people down. And the girl was still nowhere to be seen. He sighed.

"I was just going out to buy some tofu when I saw those two dudes," he pointed at their general direction, "bullying this little blond girl. But one of them was already out like a light. I found it weird, but I stepped up to help the girl anyway. I punched the first one, then the second one ran away. He came back later with his friends." He motioned at the rest of the unconscious people. Some groans could be heard. "Then I told the girl to hide in the alleyway and I haven't seen her since. After that, your guitar arrived"

"Bass."

"Yeah, whatever. Still, I never saw that girl around here. I wonder if she's lost..." Kanji mused aloud.

Yu rubbed his chin. Hmmm... He'd never really saw a blond girl around town, either, which was strange. He looked up at the sky. Those were some dark clouds coming. It was gonna rain that night.

She had probably found her parents somewhere and went home.

But the part about one of the dudes being unconscious before Kanji arrived... and he apparently didn't get up since... it was starting to weird him out. And who was that girl, actually?

Yu decided to go look for her.

But first...

"Hey, who's the one that was out when you arrived?"

"Huh? Oh, that one," Kanji pointed to a pale guy wearing an orange t-shirt, blue jeans and red sneakers.

Yu made his way towards him, ignoring the few bystanders and picking up what was left of the bass from the ground.

He poked the guy with the neck of the bass.

Nothing.

He looked around... some of the punks were groaning, or very visibly breathing.

The one in front of Yu was not.

He got down to one knee and put a hand on the guy's chest.

His heart was not beating.

Holy. Shit.

"Kanji! Go call an ambulance!"

"What?"

"This dude is dying," he yelled.

Kanji said nothing and went into his house to get his cellphone. He was just supposed to cross the street and buy some tofu, dammit, not call the ambulance on some dying guy!

Quickly, more and more people began to gather. Murmurs began and Yu pulled his own cellphone to punch in the emergency number.

"Move aside! I'm a doctor," a feminine, rather familiar voice called from the crowd.

Soon enough, a blond woman pushed through the people, reaching Yu and the non breathing guy. The woman was wearing sunglasses, but her hair was tied in neat swirly pigtails.

"Catherine?!"

"Stand back, everyone," she yelled, leading to everyone giving her space.

She began to perform CPR, four presses at a time interrupted by a mouth to mouth.

Two sessions later, the guy suddenly sat up, gasping back to life.

People sighed in relief. Catherine stood up and stepped away to give him room to breath. "The ambulance should be here soon. Just stay here and rest. You," she pointed at Yu. "Don't let him sleep until it comes. People, I understand your concern, but aid is already in the way. I request that you please return to your routines,"she said in a tone that even he, himself felt like obeying.

And sure enough, the little crowd dispersed, each person going their way. The way they walked out, though... it was a bit strange. Almost hollow, even. Even the punks that had woken up and joined the crowd simply went away...

What did Catherine do...?

Kanji got back outside just then. "Ma called the ambulance just no- he's up"

"Yes, he is," Yu trailed off as he got up to his feet and dusted himself off. "She revived him," he pointed towards the woman. Who was actually walking towards him.

"Thanks for the help," she came closer and offered her hand for a shake. He took it after a brief moment of stuttering.

"Search for the girl," she muttered under his breath, only loud enough for him to hear. He was going to ask her more questions, but she was already turning towards Kanji.

"You called the ambulance, right? Your help was of great importance, as well. Thank you. Well, take care of him until the stretcher comes. I must be off. Goodbye," she said as she began to walk away.

Yu watched her walk into the distance for a while until he turned back towards the shocked teen by his feet and sighed.

He wasn't about to start questioning how and why, that moment.

"Well... now we have this in our hands... and we have another problem. You said you never saw this girl around here, right" he asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I think we should go look for her."

Kanji frowned. First, the girl disappears. And then the dude almost dies. Could anything else happen that day...? "She mustn't have gone that far. I'll go search nearby."

"You do that. I'll be taking care of this dude. If a blond little girl was to walk alone in this small town, I'm pretty positive that at least someone saw her. What exactly does she look like?"

Blue dress, with a white ribbon around her waist, white headband, around 140 centimeters tall, blue eyes and somewhat pale is the description Kanji gives. "That's pretty much it. I'll get back to you, agreed?"

Yu then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Him, of all people, speaking politely... was so out of place. But eh. A change for the better. "Okay," he replied.

With that, they parted ways. He remained there with the speechless, wide eyed teenager, while Kanji started asking the people on the streets.

Well, at least he could try to ask that guy some questions.

"Hey... what's the last thing you remember?"

He started trebling. Wildly. He brought his knees near his chest and hugged them tightly. He grit his teeth, but even his jaw was trembling.

"Darkness... everywhere... suffocating... dragging me under..." he muttered under his breath.

... what?

Loud sirens could be heard in the distance. Three ambulances came ready to get all of the other punks, but they had already left. Two male nurses hopped off one of the vehicles and pulled a stretcher from its back. They laid the guy on it, but not without dealing with his refusal to let go of his own knees. Once he was in the back of the ambulance, one of the nurses came to Yu. "Where are the others? We were told there were many other injured teenagers... What happened here, exactly?"

... There it was. The one question. Trouble would be heading his way, soon. All he could do was to tell something close to the truth. Saying he wasn't involved was not an option.

"Me and a friend got into a fight with the other ones that were reported injured. They were bullying that kid, we decided to intervene, he fainted, the scuffle broke out. They were down for a while, but got up and went away," he explained.

"I see. We'll be leaving, thank you for taking care of the boy."

"Not a problem," Yu said as the nurse turned around to get into the ambulance.

He watched as the vehicles took off, before he shook his head. Time to start asking around.

Or it would be, if his cellphone didn't vibrate right then.

A text from Kanji. 'I'm at the shrine. You might wanna come here.'

Thinking little about any other choices he might have had, he made his way there, but not before picking the remainders of his bass once again. He'd actually be able to put it in the trash, that time.

...

**-Tatsuhime Shrine-**

Yu crossed the gates and entered the shrine. Kanji was there, talking with the old man who took care of the place.

He approached the two, and they turned towards him.

"Oh... Hello, boy. What do ya need?" The old man asked.

"Well, have you seen a blond little girl with straight hair, and wearing a blue dress around here? I'm afraid she's lost..." Yu rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yea, this fella already asked me about her. Cute lil' button, she was. She was in the shrine all alone, a while ago. She left this ema," he pointed at the small plaque in Kanji's hands. "And walked away. Ah dun really know what it says, tho..."

"Me, neither. I just got a few words... English is not my forte," Tatsumi said as he passed the ema to Yu. It was written in a cute, cursive handwriting, dark red ink. Unusual...

_"I wish I had friends... Nobody wants to be my friend. I'm so lonely..._

_Alice."_

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**Done, opinions below, Raidou the 16th, approve this message. *thumbs up* Peace.**


	13. The Small Hours

**Yo, y'all! So, another chapter. Not much to say, this time around, aside from the usual. I don't own anything. Enjoy.**

* * *

Well, there was a small lead, but that only told them where she'd been to, not where she was. "Did you see where she went after she wrote this?"

"No, Sorreh. She just left the shrine and I ain't seen her since."

"Oh, I see." no further clues... but helped, nonetheless. "Thank you for your help, sir." He bowed.

"Eh. No need to be so uptight, kid. Yer welcome."

... Uptight. Sure.

Kanji bowed to the old man to show his gratitude. He'd been a bit quiet... perhaps he thought it was better for Yu to do the talking, or something.

They turned around and left the shrine. Upon reaching the gates, Tatsumi spoke up. "I'm gonna go buy the tofu and keep asking around for a while. We don't have much, but... we gotta keep at it."

"That's an idea. I should contact the others, too, so leave that to me. Mind if I go to the tofu shop with you?"

Kanji took a while to answer. He'd taken a small breath, as if to sigh... or so it appeared. If that was the case, he'd caught himself in time to not release it. "Sure," he said, as he began to walk on ahead.

Yu looked at him for a brief moment with a raised eyebrow. He was surely different... a talk with him was in order...

"Umm, excuse me, miss..." he said as he entered the shop after Kanji.

"Oh, Yu-chan. What can I help you with, today?" Rise's grandmother replied with a warm smile, as was usual. It was almost like it was her who taught Rise that winning smile of hers, but that's besides the point.

"I am sorry to bug you with this, but have you seen a blond little girl around here? She has long straight hair, and is most likely wearing a blue dress," he asked.

"A blond girl? Yes, I saw a girl with this cute blue dress, alone, near the shrine, earlier today. I didn't see her again, however."

Dammit... no more clues. "Thank you very much. And... by any chance... is Rise home?"

"You're welcome, dear. And no, Rise is not here. She went for a walk without saying anything... she's been doing that a lot, lately. Perhaps to clear her mind from her stress," the old shopkeeper replied friendly, with a hint of concern.

"Okay. Thanks again, ma'am." Yu bowed. "I'll be leaving, now. Later Kanji," he called out to the other teenager who was busy choosing the tofu to bring home that day.

"See ya," he replied.

While walking, Narukami speed dialed Yosuke's number. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Yo, what's up?" he greeted.

"Hey, have you ever seen a blond little girl with long, straight hair around Inaba like, at all?" Yu asked.

"Huh? What's that, all of a sudden?"

"Kanji said that this little girl was being bullied and he tried to help her, but he didn't see her since. We're currently searching for her."

"Let me guess: Catherine asked you to search for her, right?"

"... yeah. She told you about it, too?"

"Did she tell you why, though?"

"No, she didn't. She went away as quickly and abruptly as she came... I'll explain later."

A sigh at the other side of the line. "Okay, I'll try to do something about it after my shift is over"

"Thanks. I'll call you later. See ya, man."

"See ya." Yosuke replied, a bit apathetic, and hung up right after .

Yu could also contact Chie, Yukiko and Rise, but he doubted either the first or the second would want any part on the matter.

Rise, though... he wasn't really sure about her. Instead of calling her, he just sent her a message, explaining the circumstances of the investigation. After a while, she replied, saying that she would indeed help. Even going as far as to say 'no prob'. Color him surprised. He just thanked her and left it at that. If she came across something, she could just text back.

After that, he decided to ask around in the floodplains and in the school zone, but not to much avail. No one saw a girl like that... Alice.

It was starting to get late, so he headed home before it started raining.

**-Dojima Residence-**

After such exhausting day, Yu went over to the fridge and something to eat. He watched TV as the downpour intensified: the weather forecast said the rain wasn't going to last long and fog was not to be expected. After finishing his meal, he went upstairs to take a shower and after that, he sat on the couch, just to think about what'd been happening.

Sunday, huh? What could that 'truth' be? And why was Lucifer himself was testing him and Yosuke to see if they were worthy of said truth? So many questions were lingering about... everything was such a mess.

On TV, the highlight of the week was the death of the Detective Princess, Naoto Shirogane. Her secret was revealed and all kinds of rumors appeared. Every time Yu caught a glimpse of those news, he'd close his eyes and plug his ears, or storm out of the place where those news were being shown. He knew he had to move on, but he just wasn't strong enough. He doubted he would ever be.

That and he didn't get started with Junes commercials. He would die to get the thought out of his head. He'd like to pretend that none of that happened, he didn't lose anyone, there wasn't even anyone to lose, to begin with.

Problem was: it was maddeningly hard to forget about the people you knew and loved, impossible, even. Even harder to forget the fact that they were gone forever. Forever and and ever. Leaving Yu behind to suffer. To hopelessly scream their names as they faded away. Forever and always...

What was it he lacked? It was easy for him to see that he was not strong enough, but what was missing... he couldn't begin to guess. He felt powerless, even though he had powers probably above most humans, he couldn't protect those he loved.

All that power, and yet, he felt powerless.

Foolishness.

It was like everything was meant to be. That was his fate. Perhaps there was no way to change that. He'd keep growing stronger and stronger, but he couldn't fight against fate. Perhaps it took more than strength to break that wheel... but what was it?

Whatever it was, he didn't have it. It was futile.

Useless. A path was already laid out for him, with no other choice.

He'd heard about theories that said 'free will was an illusion', before. Perhaps he was finally getting a little bit of that.

His shoulders slumped forward and his eyelids dropped down a bit, before he sighed and looked out the window. The rain was still quite strong.

Yu looked at the clock. Two minutes to midnight. He turned off the lights, unplugged his TV and sat back on the sofa, to see if the Midnight Channel would happen today.

Two minutes which felt like hours. The thoughts lingering in his head slowed time to a crawl for him. He didn't even have his bass to pass that time more quickly.

Then, midnight finally struck.

The TV sprung to life: a very clear image of a blond girl wearing a white hairband, a blue dress with a big white ribbon around her waist. The background was familiar. It was the throne room of Yukiko's castle.

The girl, presumably Alice, began speaking in a sad, lonely tone, quivering ever so slightly.

"Why... won't anyone be my friend? Please... I just want a friend," she said while looking down, before eventually wiping some tears.

Then, she raised her head and stared right into the 'camera'.

No...

She was staring directly at Yu.

Those blue eyes of hers piercing through even his personae and reaching his very soul.

Calling for him...

"And you...? Will you be my friend?"

He kept getting closer to the TV. Her voice filled his ears.

"Will you please... Die for me?"

The broadcast ended abruptly, snapping him out of his daze.

Only then he noticed his hand was already reaching for the TV.

The words rang in his head again... 'Will you please die for me?'

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**There, done. Reviews are XP and without enough XP, I can't reach the required level to post new chapters, so... critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th and I approve this message. *thumbs up*  
**


	14. Die Dead Enough

**Yo, y'all. So... new chapter. I don't own anything, blah blah blah, the usual. Enjoy.**

* * *

Yu blinked twice and shook his head to make the voice go away. Just then he realized the girl was speaking English throughout the whole broadcast.

His cell phone started ringing. Yosuke. He dumbly flipped the phone open to answer the call.

"Uhhh..." Was all he could muster, at that moment.

"Dude, wake up! Who was that just now," his partner asked.

Yu blinked twice. "Oh... right. Sorry. I think that was the girl we were looking for."

"Huh. Figured out as much. Weird... so... what was that about... 'Die for me'? That crept me out..."

"I don't know... all I know is that I'll sleep with the lights on, today." Yu tried to snark.

Yosuke shrugged on his side of the line. "And it was already a clear picture... I guess she's already inside the TV."

Yu regained his composure. "Yeah... let's try and come up with a plan, later."

"Alright. Whoever it is, we gotta go rescue her. For now, though, I'll try to sleep. Try. Welp, see ya later, man."

"See ya." Yu hung up.

Just then, his phone rang again. Kanji. Deep breath. Flip the phone open. Greet. "Yo."

"Senpai! That was the girl! What the hell is going on?! We gotta go-"

"Calm down, Kanji. Yeah, I know it's her. We'll meet up later and see what we'll do. I've contacted Yosuke and Rise is likely to show up, too."

"Then I'll call Chie-senpai and Yuki-"

"No!" Pause. "... don't. We got this, no problem." Yu said, trying to hide his worries under the tone of leadership in his voice.

Kanji took a while to speak again. "... okay. Your call. But we've gotta rescue her."

Was that... a threat? Narukami deepened his voice a bit to try and overpower his tone, but reassure him at the same time. "And we will. Now to try to go to sleep and get some rest."

"...Alright. Later, senpai," he replied, still a bit reluctant.

"Later, Kanji." Yu said, putting a slight emphasis on 'later'. He could hear Tatsumi sigh before he hung up.

During the call, he had received a message from Rise.

_/I saw the MC. It must have been that girl, right?/_

He sighed before typing, _/Yes, it was. We'll meet later to make heads or tails of what's going on. And try not to contact Chie or Yukiko about this. It's_ _complicated./ _and sent the message.

Rise quickly replied. _/K. See ya tmrw XD/_

Usual Rise. Bubbly even through text. Which shouldn't have been so usual, give the circumstances, but hey. At least she was willing to cooperate.

But alas, Y crashed onto the futon. More drama. Maybe all he needed was a good night of sleep to get his mind straight.

And go for a night of sleep he did.

...

Yu woke up normally in the morning. He felt the need to take a cold shower to be ready for the day. After going through the usual ritual of eating breakfast and getting ready, he headed to the school. As was usual, classes were boring, Yukiko wasn't looking at his face at all, girls were talking about the seven punks who were bullying a kid who fainted and the two guys who beat them up at the shopping district... the everyday life in Yasogami. The only thing out of the 'ordinary' was the fact that Chie was absent. Him and Yosuke were just trying to fast-forward the classes, really.

After the long hours passed, the bell finally rang. The two wasted no time going downstairs to meet Kanji and Rise, but ended up bumping into their underclassmen on their way up.

"Hi, senpai." Rise greeted cheerfully.

"Sup." Kanji greeted in his usual way.

"So... you two know what's up, right?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah, I guess..." Rise replied, while Kanji just nodded.

"Then let's go to Junes. I'll explain everything in detail, since I was kind of in a rush yesterday and left Rise with just the gist of it." Yu turned to Rise. "Sorry about that... " He scratched the back of his head an tried to analyze the girl. She didn't seem to be faking her cheerfulness, but then again, she was trained to not appear fake. He decided to keep himself a bit restrained in regards of her.

"That shouldn't be a problem. I guess we have enough leads to find her ourselves, yes?" Kanji asked.

... Okay, Tatsumi speaking politely was starting to creep Yu out. But he was still going to leave that be. That was a good thing, right? Only not normal, but still good.

Now, focus.

"Yeah, but she still needs to be on the know of what happened. Let's go." Yu said, and everybody nodded. Except Yosuke, who seemed to be a bit lost in thought. Maybe because Chie wasn't present. Eventually, he snapped out of his daze and followed the rest.

**-Junes, Food Court-**

Yu explained the circumstances of the investigation to everybody.

"Soooo... you and Kanji took out seven guys?" Rise asked.

"Yep," he replied.

"And you threw a bass at someone's face?" It was Yosuke's turn to ask.

"Yep," he replied again.

"And one of them almost died?"

"That one wasn't really our fault..." Kanji added in.

"You guys are so badass~" Rise fangirled over him and Yu, then proceed to hug them both, nearly tipping the former's chair in the process. Yosuke just decided to get up and brofist the two.

Yu knew that none of that was necessary, but he just felt awesome.

Before he caught himself almost being fooled again. All that 'happiness and sunshine'... Rise must have been faking. She couldn't be so bubbly in that situation. Something was wrong. But alas, that was not the moment to press her in regards of that.

Ahem...

"Soo, back on topic. Apparently, as you know, this 'Alice' is in Yukiko's castle. She may have created her own world that looks like Yukiko's castle, though. A possibility, but highly unlikely. If she is indeed in that place and hasn't created a world of her own, well, I'm pretty afraid of what we're in for..."

He shuddered a bit. For all he knew, her being the 'truth' behind everything was actually a possibility. So many unanswered questions... Regardless, no use pondering when the answer was right in front of their faces.

"Anyway, Yosuke and Kanji: are you two okay with your weapons?"

"Yeah, I've grown pretty used to those kitchen knives. I'm good." Yosuke replied confidently.

"My shield is also alright. I'm ready." Kanji replied nonchalantly.

"And Rise." Yu thought about asking if she was okay with joining on this mission, but what if she declined in the last minute? Better not leave her much choice, from his part. "Thanks for coming to help."

"No prob, senpai. I kinda owe you guys my life, soo..." Rise blushed slightly and looked at her feet, in an embarrassed way. He knew it was just an act so she could be cute, but dammit, did that work.

Her little act brought a slight smile to his face. At that point, he didn't know whether he was being fooled or if he was trying to act accordingly.

She was dangerous...

"Okay. If everyone's ready, let's go in." No objections were raised and after making sure that no one would spot them, they entered the TV world.

**-Entrance Hall-**

"Rise, could you give it a quick scan to localize this girl? If you need something specific..." Yu rummaged through his pockets. "... I think this could help." He handed Rise the girl's ema.

"Hmm... 'I wish I had friends', huh? I could try," she said as she called forth Kanzeon and clutched the ema close to her chest. After some seconds, she dismissed her persona. "She's in the same place as that annoying little king we defeated. But there's something... out of place. It's hard to describe... I can sense that the girl is alone, but there's some huge power with her there. Also, there are no Shadows, whatsoever..." Rise stated.

"Oh... wait, you can tell that much?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah. I feel like I've been more... in tune... with my persona, lately." Rise answered.

"Alright." Yu began passing around everyone's weapons, which were always kept inside a golden chest that Teddie brought to the entrance hall. "Let's go. Lead the way, Rise."

The trek to Yukiko's Castle was pretty much uneventful, save for some murmurs about the girl from Kanji. They eventually reached the place, where the leader recapped the plans, objectives, and confirmed some things.

"Are you sure there are no Shadows inside, Rise," he asked.

"Positive. Not a single one," she replied.

"Works better for us. Though this could bode danger, as well. Be on guard at all times, as always. Let's head in" he said. And head in they did.

The castle was indeed empty, an unsettling silence was the soundtrack of their walk through the corridors. The atmosphere could be shattered like a glass window if one was to idly swing a hammer in the air. And the fog was much lighter... odd.

The quiet prevailed until they reached the third flight of stairs. Picking up treasure chests was proving to be a much easier task. "Uhh, guys? You may or may not know this, but I've been thinking... we may not be in for a rescue mission, this time." Kanji broke the silence.

He was the one to kill the charade? Weeeird. Again. But for the moment, reassurance. "Yes, it's a possibility. But like I said..." Yu made a brief pause, as if to let the sentence sink in with more effect. "Keep your guard up at all times and we will be fine," he completed, just as he was about to open the door to one of the side rooms and found something unexpected:

A boy, curled up in a ball, facing the corner of the room. He didn't seem to be much younger than Tatsumi or Rise. By the other corner of the room was a golden treasure chest.

After thinking for a brief moment, Narukami asked for the girl to go unlock the chest, since she was the one who carried the keys. Meanwhile, he would go try and talk to the kid.

Okay, simple tasks: talk to him, have him calm down, ask if there are others, pick him up and get him out. No problem to it.

"Hey. I'm Yu Narukami. I'm not here to hurt you," he said as he began approaching him. "We came here to get you out of here. This place is dangerous," he continued, becoming a bit nervous as the kid started trembling slightly. It seemed he was so afraid, his breathing could be heard from afar. He came close enough to try and put a hand on his shoulder. "I need you to come with us and-"

"Aaaagh!"

He was interrupted by a shriek at the other side of the room.

Rise had opened the chest. And a blackened hand was griping her wrist, trying to pull her in.

"Rise!" Kanji and Yosuke yelled as they went running to aid the girl. The latter threw a glance at Yu's way as he ran and immediately changed his course.

"Look out," he screamed.

Narukami quickly turned to look around. He was met by two big, round yellow eyes without pupils, embedded in a darkened and emotionless face. Before he could draw his sword, the person opened his mouth widely, revealing abnormally sharp teeth, which he proceed to sink in his shoulder.

The pain was almost unbearable, it was impossible to hold the scream. He ended up dropping his sword, allowing the creature to overpower and tackle him to the ground. He was about to be bitten again.

Until Yosuke, himself tackled the creature from atop of Yu onto the ground. The brunette then proceeded to thrust one of his knives right onto the monster's forehead. Its arms dropped to the side and it went limp as Hanamura got off of him.

He then went over to get his partner up as he heard a loud noise. Probably the chest being shut closed, then Kanji's voice. "Get out of the room, now," he was probably talking to Rise, as she began to run towards the door.

The three of them reunited at the middle of the room after the leader picked his sword from the ground. He threw a glance at the golden chest: the darkened hand was laying in front of it, severed from its owner. The chest then shot open again and another hand burst from it. It supported itself on the borders and another creature revealed itself to be coming out of the chest in almost the same manner as one would climb a wall.

Then a small sphere of darkness appeared on the back wall of the room. It expanded, and out from it fell another creature, crashing face first on the ground. It simply got up by arching its back until its feet touched the ground, before bringing the upper part of its body up. The one previously stabbed by Yosuke removed the knife from its forehead and got up.

"Yu, can you fight?" The brunette asked.

"Been through worse... I can hold my own. Rise! Scan those things," he demanded as he took his stance. "Each one to his monster. If one of us gets into trouble, call the others. We run to reunite in one place. Got it?"

The two nodded.

"Attack!" He roared, ordering the two, and lunged towards the creature that bit him, infusing his sword with electricity.

The creature was slow... too slow. He raised his sword, aiming for a thrust at the its head. As soon as he came within striking distance, he put his sword forward and pierced cleanly through the head, and he didn't stop running until he had it pinned on the wall behind it.

A brief moment to check whether it was dead was enough for his neck to be grasped tightly by its hand. He reacted quickly, however, and released his sword to grab the creature's arm with one hand and elbow it upwards using his free arm, breaking its arm with a loud crack. He grabbed his sword and stepped back as the pain in his shoulder kicked in.

The creature fell to the ground and dissolved into a pool of... blood? Shadow ichor? It was hard to tell.

"These monsters are weak to win- Yu, look out underneath you!" Rise yelled from her place.

He looked down: the same pool of blood was under his feet.

A hand shot upwards from the strange mass and gripped Yu's leg tightly. It suddenly caught on fire and began to burn clean at his skin.

That was when he decided to switch to Vayu to blow a Garudyne on himself...

But Yosuke beat him to it. The creature was pulled out of the pool of blood and blown away from the leader.

"Kanji, stand back!" Hanamura shouted. The tallest of the group was quick to comply and retreated with his shield in front of himself as the creature he was fighting limped slowly after him.

"Go, Susano-O!" the former yelled as he slashed his persona's card. "Magarudyne!"

The slayer of Orochi shot his arms upwards and a wild twister formed near Narukami. It eventually engulfed and lifted the two monsters in the air, slashing at their flesh. It was not enough, however. Yosuke threw his knife at the tornado and his persona kicked the bladed ring at the vortex, as well.

The two weapons sliced and diced through the creatures. When the wind ceased, the severed pieces of darkened bodies fell to the ground and evaporated into the usual Shadow ichor.

Yu switched to Ishtar and used a Diarahan on each of the three, including himself. Dammit, that was random...

"What the Hell was that about?" Kanji asked, still a bit shocked.

"I've no idea," the leader spoke up. "But we survived. No more opening chests, from now on. Rise, can you scan the doors before we open them from now on? I can't believe I got so careless..."

"Okay, I'll try," she replied.

As Yosuke went to pick his knives back, Yu spoke, "Can everyone keep going?"

They all nodded.

After sighing, he commanded. "Onward we go, then."

The rest of the climb was quiet, with all of the precaution they were using after the incident. Rise didn't detect any more of those strange shadows on the way up. Even the voices they usually heard whenever they traveled through someone's world were absent. Which was odd. In fact, nearly everything in that whole mess was odd. But come what may, they'd be ready.

Right...?

...

...

**-Elsewhere-**

The latest report arrived on detective Adachi's desk. He took the papers to his office, which was previously Dojima's.

He closed the door and began flipping through the pages.

Boring...

Boring...

Boring...

...What?!

Kubo hung himself?!

That was surely unexpected. But then again, he was just a kid. A cowardly kid, at that. With how big of an attention whore he was, he probably couldn't handle being left to rot in oblivion.

The detective shook his head. Just more work for him...

* * *

**There, done. Critics in the review box below, Raidou the 16th, I approve this message. *quick thumbs up* See y'all next chapter.**


	15. Black Curtains

**Sup? Same old, same old, I don't own anything, bla bla bla. It might be a good idea to listen to the Fiend battle theme of SMT: Nocturne while reading this chapter. Without any more delay, let's get this started.**

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They finally reached the eighth floor. The luxurious door to the throne room stood in front of them, closed.

"This is where the presence is coming from." Rise stated.

Yu finally let out the breath he was holding in. Anticipation made him hesitate for the briefest of moments, but he caught himself before anyone could have noticed. "Are you all ready?" he asked, examining the others' faces. Yosuke was determined, Rise was confident and Kanji was calm... overly calm. The three of them answered the leader with a firm nod.

"Alright," he said before opening the doors to the royal chamber. He was met with the sight of a lonely little girl sat on the majestic throne, absently swinging her legs back and forth. She was quite adorable.

While he was talking, however, other possibilities were already being calculated in his mind. The lack of her Shadow was alerting, to say the least. He put Izanagi at ready in his mind, just in case.

"Hey, umm... Alice?" Yu called out to her, catching her attention.

She glanced at him and tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion. He continued. "I, uh... I'm Yu. These are my friends," he motioned towards the group standing behind him. "And we've come to take you back home..."

"... Home?" Alice answered with a question.

"Yeah. Your parents must be worried about you," he was being extra careful with his words, even though his doubt was clouding his judgement in that regard.

"I don't any have parents. I just used to have Uncle Red and Uncle Black and they wanted keep me locked. They were being mean to me..." she puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. "... But I'm free, now. I have nowhere to go, though," she trailed off.

He cringed inwardly. That wasn't going as well as he hoped. "But still, this place is dangerous. You shouldn't stay here for too long, or else bad things will happen..." he tried to talk to her in the way a father would to a child.

"But if I go back, I won't have anyone... I'll be alone..." She lowered her head. "... Oh! I know!" She hopped down from her throne and fixated her gaze on him"How about you be my friends? Will you be my friend, mister?"

As her pleading voice reached Yu's ears, he felt as if he couldn't say no to her. How could anyone resist such a cute face? He got down to one knee and opened his arms, inviting her for a brotherly hug. The moment was like a movie scene. She smiled and came prancing happily towards him with her hands behind her back, as he opened a big, goofy grin. He could even feel a warmth as she got closer and closer until-

"Senpai!"

Yu snapped out of his daze. Why was he on his knees?

Why did he look ready to hug someone?

When did Alice get so close to him?

The girl then brought her hands forward, fully charged with a hellish red fire. She launched the flames of her left hand at him, but Kanji was quick to tackle him out of the way of the attack.

She didn't stop however and hurled the flames of her right hand at the two.

Yu finally managed to get his wits together and quickly switched to Loki. He summoned the persona, who stood in front of the flames, absorbing the attack.

Yosuke gritted his teeth and summoned Susano-O to launch a Garudyne towards Alice, but as soon as she turned towards the source of the gales, she moved to his side in the blink of an eye.

"What the..." Were his last words before Alice slapped him across the cheek.

And sent him flying back.

He landed on his back with a thump. He would've crashed into Rise, had she not have chosen to stay outside the room to give her support from the other side of the door.

Yu and Kanji got up, then went to Yosuke's aid, as Alice went back to her throne.

"You all ruined my fun! You made almost all of my friends disappear..." She said, as she took a seat and waved her index finger about, tracing an upside-down star with a purple energy of some sort in the air. "You'll have to replace them! Come, my last friend..."

The leader raised an eyebrow at that, but then he felt a sudden surge of power under him and his companions.

"Dammit... move!" He shoved Kanji out of the curse emblem that formed under them, while Yosuke was quick enough to jump out of it. Yu simply stood his ground and summoned Loki, as the emblem burst into a storm of darkness.

But that was not all.

Out from the middle of the star, a creature began to emerge.

It climbed painfully to the surface. Before it passed its lower half from the portal, it looked at Yu's face with its head tilted ninety degrees to the side and unleashed a hellish scream.

However, it was not the scream that made him dismiss the persona in disbelief.

It was his uncannily familiar face. Although darkened and with those big yellow eyes carved into its face, he knew those features very well.

That was the only way those previously empty eyes of his could get any deader.

"... Mitsuo?!" The party expressed their surprise at once.

What the fuck was going on?!

The thing that reminded the copycat killer got its whole body out of the portal, leading to the disappearance of the star.

Yu took two steps back, baffled. That was the single last thing he expected to see at that moment. "R-Rise, scan that thing..."

The girl stuttered at her side of the line, as well, but eventually responded. "On it."

The leader took his stance and didn't even need to command Yosuke to attack, as he saw the two kitchen knives being thrown directly into the side of the creature's head.

Which it shrugged off like a spring breeze.

And it started heading towards the leader.

He switched to Vayu and brought forth the card to summon the God of the northern winds.

He shook his head at the quiet buzz that rang in his ears and commanded.

"Garudyne!"

A green hurricane surged from under the monster and shot upwards, but it didn't do much more than send Yosuke's knives flying.

Crap...

Tatsumi lunged forward, ready to bludgeon it with his shield. And he did, hitting it right in the face with the makeshift weapon, but it cracked in half and fell apart.

It then turned towards the tall teenager and caught his throat in a flash, before lifting him off the ground. It had such a strong grip, he couldn't even scream as the creature's sight burnt into his mind.

It was the Kubo kid, alright.

"Kanji!" Yu and Yosuke charged towards their friend in need as Alice giggled merrily from her throne. She pointed her finger towards the brunette and shot a small fireball, obliging him to quickly jump back in order to dodge it.

The former continued his chase, however. As he ran, Rise's voice rang in his ear.

"It's weak to electricity. Physical, wind, fire, darkness and light have little no effect."

He nodded, even though the girls wasn't in the room and proceeded to infuse his sword with lightning. Upon arriving at striking distance he spun around and delivered a two handed slash at the creature's mid section, careful not to hit Kanji.

It released a pained scream so sharp, it made Tatsumi lose his balance when after he was put back to the ground. He, however, quickly got back up, infused his own fists with lightning and seized the brief moment in which the creature was staggered to deliver as brutal of a right hay maker as he could muster, Tarukaja and everything.

The monster was sent flying back and landed with a thump at Yosuke's feet. Without much option, he decided to stomp its head, but it disappeared into a red and black mush, much like the other creatures they had fought.

"Guys, beware... I can't see clearly where it's going... Senpai, it's coming your way!" Rise announced.

As if on instinct, Yu dive rolled to the side and sure enough, the pool of blood appeared where he was.

But that time, the pool exploded upwards like a volcano, a tower of bloody flames shot almost at the roof's height.

And the roof was pretty high up.

Yu caught a small glimpse of the monster inside of the pillar of fire.

The pool disappeared again.

Jaws were clenched all around and beads of sweat fell to the ground. All that could be heard were the group's heavy breathing and Alice's amused giggles... which no one dared interrupt, lest they opened themselves to that torrent of red flames.

The silence made the leader think. Maybe... just maybe...

"Yosuke, sukukaja, please," he asked. His partner complied as quickly as he could to not get caught off guard.

He'd have to be quick and lucky, for he probably had but one chance. After quietly power changing and infusing his sword in electricity.

...

"Kanji, look out!" Rise blared in the group's ears.

Tatsumi didn't even need to look underneath himself to hop to the side as quickly as he could.

Sure enough, the pool of blood appeared where he was previously and shot the tower of red fire upwards.

Yu thought and aimed fast into the pillar. He threw his sword with all of his might, sending it flying at lightning speed at the monster's chest. It pierced through without fail and the flames dissipated, leaving the creature to fall freely to the ground with a sickening cry. It hit the floor face up, impaled by the sword.

"Kanji, now," he demanded and summoned the card of his most trusted companion into his palm. "Izanagi!"

"Take Mikazuchi!"

"Ziodyne!" The two roared in unison and the two personae made thunder rain down upon the already electrified sword, turning it into a lightning rod.

The creature with Mitsuo Kubo's face unleashed screams of agony that rang throughout the whole castle and made the party plug their ears as it twitched, twisted and turned under the sword pinning it down. Eventually, its bright yellow eyes lost their glow and it rested limp on the floor, to begin dissipating in Shadow ichor.

It was at that moment that Alice threw a tantrum on her throne and her blue eyes were shining brightly.

... No time to stop and think. Yu ran to grab his sword and switched personae on his way. Yosuke also ran to grab his scattered knives.

"Loki," he summoned the trickster as he stepped rapidly forward.

"Bufudyne!" He commanded and the persona tried to freeze Alice in place with a huge block of ice, but she had blinked away from her throne before the attack even began and was already chasing him.

He reached his katana in time, however, and quickly drew from the ground to try a turning uppercut slash at the little girl, but she suddenly appeared behind him and punched him in the ribs. The punch itself was almost comic, but it sent him skidding to the side.

Yu growled lowly as he clutched his bruised side before turning towards the approaching Alice...

But she was soon halted by a bolt of lightning crashing down on her.

She turned towards Kanji, who had Take Mikazuchi out. She sped towards him in a blur, but she was halted again by a strong gust hitting her dead on.

"Haha!" Yosuke twirled his knives between is fingers, as if to taunt the girl. She set her sight on him and she was getting annoyed.

She glided her way towards Hanamura, but was quickly stopped by Tatsumi's persona with a Might Swing that sent her flying towards the leader.

He readied his katana like a baseball bat and swung it with full force at the incoming small child...

But she disappeared in mid air, making him whiff the swing.

She then appeared mounted on his back and tried to cover his eyes from behind. Her hands were glowing pink.

"Guess wh- Agh!" She was interrupted by a Garudyne surging from under the two. The attack blasted both of them, but got Alice off his back.

"Grr... I'm getting sick of you meanies!" She threw a brief tantrum as Yu got up...

Then an Agidyne suddenly exploded on Kanji's face, blasting him back. He took a moment to get up afterwards.

"Damn... Rise, how's the scan going?!" The leader asked as he switched back to Loki and went to Yosuke's side.

"Don't use fire on her, but you already knew that... as for weaknesses, I still don't know... hit her with everything you've got, for now."

He sighed and took his stance again, as his partner summoned Susano-O.

"Brave Blade!" The persona sent his circular blade soaring at blind speed towards Alice, who simply jumped over it. The bladed ring kept going on its course until it lodged on the wall behind her.

"Mabufudyne!" It was Yu's turn to attack. He summoned Loki and made massive ice spikes surge from under Alice, or rather, where the damned child would've been, had she not moved swiftly out of the way.

"Ziodyne!" Kanji summoned Take Mikazuchi and made lightning rain down on her, but she simply spun out of the way and sent a fireball towards Yosuke. He weaved hurriedly to the side, barely avoiding it, but he could feel the intensity of the heat.

"We need a plan... and fast," the brunette said, ducking under another fireball.

"I'm thinking!" Narukami and Tatsumi said in unison, as the latter jumped out of a smaller curse emblem underneath him.

The former threw a glance at the latter, but he ultimately chose to shrug the thoughts off.

The gray haired leader showed the ghost of a smirk as he came up with a plan. "Yosuke, we'll need a Masukukaja, right now." He then roared, charging his sword with electricity once more before charging towards Alice. He felt the boost in speed halfway through his advance and rushed forward even faster.

He jumped, then brought his sword down on the girl with an overhead slash, but the strike was sidestepped just barely. He wasn't about to stop, however, and followed up with a horizontal slash, forcing her to catch his blade with her hand.

"Kanji!" He called, and his order was heeded without delay as Tatsumi quickly summoned his persona and made lightning crash upon her, shocking her for a brief moment.

Yu did not miss the chance to switch to Izanagi.

"Cross..." He intensified the electricity on his sword and Power Charged, before delivering a vicious spinning slash at Alice, sending her skidding back a bit, but he wasn't about to relent.

"Slash!" He crushed Izanagi's card and the persona appeared some meters above the girl, bringing his naginata down on a mighty overhead slash, knocking her down.

Yosuke took the opportunity and ran. He used a Garudyne to jump over Yu and came down with a dive kick aimed at her face, but his foot found nothing but ground as Alice had disappeared before he landed.

She had gone back to her throne, with her eyes glowing red.

"Hmph. That's it! I hate you all!" She stomped the ground in rage. Soon after, all the veils in the room turned pure black with a dark energy. They began twisting and turning aimlessly in spirals and waves, as if they had come to life.

"Oh... crap..." The party said in unison as the room grew almost pitch black.

The girl brought her hands together. The veils suddenly stopped moving and pointed towards the group like wild animals that had just found defenseless prey. She pointed towards Yosuke and Kanji and the veils shot in the teens' direction at her command.

The latter, being rather slow, did not have time to dodge and quickly got caught by his left foot. He was lifted off the ground and hung upside down.

The former tried his best to sidestep and weave out of the veils' reach, but his left arm got caught and he found himself being raised off the ground, kicking and yelling. He tried to use his free hand to slash at the veils, but his knife passed cleanly through the fabric, as if it was intangible...

"Guys!" Yu watched helplessly as his friends got caught in the veils. He summoned Loki and sent the persona after his partner to try and pull him down, but it was of no use.

Alice snapped her finger and the veils became agitated like wild fire. With a final surge of darkness, it rendered the two unconscious.

She then turned her attention towards the leader and thrust her hands forward.

"You're mine!" The remaining veils shot in his direction. He braced himself, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes...

But the veils passed cleanly through him, like they were made of air.

"Huh?" The girl tilted her head. "... why?"

Rise suddenly blared inside Yu's ear. "Senpai! I found her weakness! It's light!"

... He didn't have a single light skill in his arsenal...

Fuck.

The girl growled lowly and advanced towards him at blind speed. She tried to slap him, but he just barely ducked and backed away. She didn't stop, and followed up with a clumsy looking punch. He blocked it with his katana, but was sent skidding back quite a bit.

He summoned Loki and flung a Bufudyne spike in her direction, but she glided out of the way. She sped towards him again and gave him a strong shove with her two hands, sending flying back and making him collide with the wall.

After regaining his posture he watched Alice approach again, readying another slap. He parried the slap with his blade and thrust a Power Charged palm to her face with his free hand. She staggered back for a moment and Yu used the time to do a big horizontal slash, if only to gain space.

What he didn't expect, was Alice grabbing his katana with both hands, pulling it away from him, then grabbing his wrist.

He tried to jerk his hand away, but her grip was too strong for him to break free. She tug on his arm forcefully, making him falter forward, then started spinning, around, eventually lifting him off the ground.

She chuckled with joy before releasing Yu, sending him flying to the ground. The fall knocked some air out of his lungs.

He gasped for air, got up to one knee, only able to watch Alice walk towards him.

He blinked once.

She was in front of him, grabbing him by the throat with both hands and applying crushing force to his wind pipe. Her constant giggles began to grow fainter.

His vision became blurrier and blurrier with lack of oxygen. He couldn't make out the words Rise was screaming in his ear...

...

_"Narukami, have this."_

_"What is this?"_

_"This is your key to a path of light."_

No... It couldn't possibly be... It couldn't possibly work that way.

The irony.

...

No more breaths. It was then or never.

Focusing once more, using the little time of conscience he had left, he willed the quill Lucifer had given him into his hand.

He then thrust it into Alice's stomach.

A surge of blinding light emanated from it and expanded until it completely filled the room, turning even the veils back to normal. Yosuke and Kanji were still tied and unconscious, however.

The girl was sent staggering back, unable to contain her unearthly, pained as she clutched her wound.

Yu got up to one knee again and coughed a few times, before regaining his breath. He then materialized Loki's card and crushed it in his palm, before immediately focusing silently with a Mind Charge, and then...

"Megidola!" He roared and the persona concentrated a huge sphere of almighty energy in his hands, before sending it at mach speed at the blinded, staggered and defenseless Alice, hitting her dead on.

She was sent flying back and crashed on a wall, making a very visible dent in it. She tried to get up and float again, but she didn't find the strength to and fell to her knees.

"I-I lost..." She hung her head and sobbed quietly a few times.

The leader got back up on his feet and took some deep breaths. He was bruised and too tired to use any healing move at the moment. He painfully made his way towards Alice, crouched down before her and asked, "What... are you...?"

She looked up at him and gave him the slightest of smiles. "... Be careful..." she said as her own aura began engulfing her, turning bluer by the second. "... they're watching..." With a whisper, she completely disappeared, leaving only a card behind.

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**Seraph's Quill: Heavy light damage to one enemy. Reusable. **

**There, done. Next chapter will most likely be up a while after the story gets pushed into the second page of the category. I gotta take a rest, you know? Anyway, did I tell you to review already? If I didn't, review, please. A lot of work was put into this chapter, I'd like to see what you guys think about it. Hope you enjoyed, I'm Raidou the 16th... and I approve this message. See y'all next chapter.**


	16. Twist Of Fate: Lovers

**Well, remember when I said I was going to wait until the story was pushed onto the second page? I lied. That's what boredom does to me. Speaking of second page, the site is kinda failing to push the story up to the top of the page sometimes... Anyway, I don't own anything, yadayadayada, let's get this started.**

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After a day of shopping, Rise was sat on one of the comfy chairs at Chagall Cafe, in Okina city. She had her head rested on her hand as she sipped on a cup of cappuccino, and she was wearing the hat she had just bought. It was a blue summer hat, perfect for going to the beach...

Which did not fit the weather in the slightest.

It was a cloudy day. Rain was going to fall by the evening, but she did not care. She just wanted to go on a shopping spree, buy whatever caught her eye, have a cup of her favorite coffee... just have a normal day for once. That was her routine to forget whatever was stressing her.

But that time, it was not working. Not at all.

Everything was still very much vivid in her memory.

Neither that night in the hospital, nor its consequences were going to leave her mind for a long time.

Everything went so wrong... so many bad things happened in a row, Rise almost couldn't take it. She thought she was going insane... and she most likely lost her mind for some moments.

...

**-Six days ago-**

Rise knocked on Yosuke's door frantically. She knew he hadn't gone to school, since she didn't see neither him or Yu during lunch break. She had skipped the afternoon periods to go tell both of them about the tragic news. She was told to refrain from even bringing up the subject around those two and that they needed to find it out on their own, but... she couldn't control herself. She needed to tell them to their faces. Maybe because they had the right to know, maybe because they could have been partially responsible for it... she needed to tell them.

Yosuke had finally opened the door. He did not look well. The bags under his red eyes were very much visible, his hair was a mess, he almost couldn't stand straight.

"Hey..." he greeted groggily as he rubbed his stingy eyes. She should have been in class at that moment, what was she doing there?

"Yosuke-senpai, I gotta tell you something..." she began with a quivery voice as she fidgeted about. She was desperately trying to hold back the tears, but they were much too strong for her.

"What is it," he asked monotonously, as he put a hand on his forehead. The migraine from his hangover did not seem to alleviate after the poorly slept night.

"Naoto's... she" she began, but couldn't finish. The lump in her throat seemed to be in the way of her words.

"What about her," he asked and raised a brow. What was she getting at?

Wait.

No... She was not about to say what he was thinking, was she?

"Naoto's..." Rise couldn't hold back her tears, anymore. She felt the urge to cry on the nearest shoulder available, which happened to be Yosuke's. She hugged him tightly and as she pressed her head against his chest, she belted out.

"She's dead!"

... She totally said what he was thinking.

He heard what she said, but the words didn't fully sink in, yet. He just kept his same tired expression as Rise continued talking.

"They found her dead at her house..." she sobbed. "She shot herself... I..." she sobbed even more. She wanted to say words, but all that came out were incoherent noises... most likely sentences that were cut short and rendered incomprehensible by the constant hiccups.

Yosuke just stood there, motionless from a brief moment. The first thing he did after he broke out of his stupor was return the embrace and pat her back in an attempt to reassure her. He was having trouble coming up with words of comfort, since he was also in need of comfort. So he just remained quiet.

He would have cried. Really, he would. But he had drowned so many tears in alcohol the night before, he wasn't sure if he had any left to spare for this moment. So he remained expressionless as he wallowed in the words he had just heard.

Rise looked up, and saw his neutral expression. After a few sobs, she managed to produce a question.

"Why aren't you crying," she asked, her voice still very much quivery.

Because he couldn't? Because he had already cried the whole night? He wanted to vocalize those thoughts, but he couldn't. He instead turned his face away to try and hide his scowl.

"She was our friend... why aren't you crying," she yelled. His apparent impartiality was starting to get under her skin really fast. "I loved her like I did everyone else... she didn't deserve to go like that... why aren't you crying?!"

She then grabbed Yosuke by his collar. She shook him back and forth. "Why?!"

"I... don't know."

"Why weren't you there for her?! She was all alone, why was no one there?!"

Yosuke looked away once more. He had no response to that.

"Why?!" she shook him again, harder this time. "Why, why, why, why?!" she kept rocking him back and forth harder and harder, until she started beating on his chest with her clenched fists, throwing a fit. He didn't find the strength to resist her charge and kept walking backwards into his house, until he tripped and fell on his back, leading to Rise falling over him.

She landed on top of him, but that didn't end her rage and discontentment. She grabbed him by the collar, shook him again, slapped him, throttled him... all because he wasn't shedding one single tear for a friend she held so dear.

And he didn't resist. Not one bit. Maybe because he understood what she felt, maybe because he didn't have the strength to... He didn't know.

After a bit more than a minute, she stopped beating him. With the little conscience she had gotten back, she looked into his eyes and saw that it was futile to lash out at Yosuke.

She wasn't there for Naoto either... she was just as guilty as anyone else.

She then got off of him and began wiping her still running tears. "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright," he answered while still on the floor. "Just leave me alone for a while..."

She nodded and started making her way back to her house, deciding against telling Yu. She wanted to ask if Yosuke was going to be okay, but she knew he wasn't. Not for a long while.

She knew she, herself wasn't going to be okay.

**...**

**-Chagall Cafe-**

Rise took another sip of her cappuccino and sighed. Naoto was not the only loss she suffered. Nanako was gone, too, and Teddie had disappeared to God knows where... it was like everything had fallen apart in that single night.

She shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts, but it was not working.

Maybe the musicians that used to play live there could divert her for a while.

Speaking of, the day's band had just gotten up on the small stage.

One of them had shoulder length wavy brown hair which seemed to be under a fedora. He was wearing a light blue T-shirt and was twirling drumsticks in between his fingers as he walked towards the drum kit.

There was a taller one, with short slicked back blond hair and a beard that followed his jawline. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and had a spades pendant hanging on his neck. He sat on the chair reserved for the performers and took the acoustic guitar by its side.

There was also a woman, a bit taller than Rise, herself. She also had blond hair, much brighter than the taller man's, tied in a ponytail that reached her shoulders. She was wearing a white sleeveless silk blouse and a skirt that reached a bit above her knees. She headed towards the chair behind the microphone.

They didn't introduce themselves, as the other bands always do, which was a bit odd. That was the only thing that stood out besides the fact that they were probably foreigners. But Rise did not pay much mind to it and listened to the songs they played.

After the everyday routine of songs, with a few classics from blues in simple acoustic chords and some rather skilled improvisations, they started playing what seemed to be their last song.

The beginning of it quickly caught Rise's attention. It had been a while since she heard that song... The song was in English, but she learned that it talked about life on the road for a musician and how tiring it could be. She started paying attention to the performance.

She'd never listened to it in a female's voice before and it seemed to have fit well. The woman was a good singer.

The drums and guitar playing were not as intense as the original, so the song had a lighter feel to it.

Throughout the song, Rise noticed that the guitar player frequently looked at her.

After 6 minutes or so, the song ended. The band left the instruments in their respective places, thanked the people present in the cafe, and left the stage. She took it they were just a group of friends, since the band didn't seem to have a name. Which was alright, since the standard for the live music at this branch of Chagall was not as high as the ones in cafes at the big cities.

She took one last sip of her cappuccino and considered ordering another cup, but she had taken enough sugar and caffeine for the day. So she just sat there and let her mind take her to all sort of different places. From her time in the show business to where she stood, at the moment. Maybe she should have just taken her manager's offer and went back to her career. Then she wouldn't have to deal with so many doubts and losses... maybe she wouldn't have escaped the losses, but at least she wouldn't feel responsible for them.

Then again, she would still feel responsible for not being there, just as much as she was sorry for not being there for Naoto, or even Nanako.

Maybe all that was just meant to be. Maybe it was simply going to happen regardless of her, or anyone else's actions... you know what they say: 'It was so inevitable that it happened.'

... Who was she kidding? She'd never even heard anyone saying that.

There was just no escaping the guilt, was there?

A few moments later, the guitar player of the band from earlier headed inside the cafe again and made his way towards Rise's table.

"Excuse me, Rise Kujikawa," he asked as he approached her seat.

Rise looked up, slightly startled. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she had not noticed his presence until he actually spoke.

"Yes," she answered curtly.

"May I have a chat with you," he asked. "My name is Louis. I really like your work as a musician."

What surprised her the most was the fact that he said her actual name before saying that he was a fan. And she thought that all of her fans only knew her as Risette.

She briefly sized him up. Along with his gray t-shirt and his pendant, he was wearing blue jeans, brown shoes and held a white jacket over his left shoulder. He seemed to be in his early-mid forties, had a pale complexion and clear blue eyes. He was surely a foreigner, but he was quite the fluid Japanese speaker. He didn't seem to ogle her like the teenagers who would hit on her sometimes and he was also a musician, so maybe it'd be worth the talk.

"Sure, have a seat," she offered the seat in front of her.

"Thank you," he said as he bowed briefly. He pulled the chair back, sat down and laid his jacket on his lap. "As I was saying, I think your music stands out from the other works of the same genre. My daughter is a big fan of yours. She often goes on and on about how incredible your songs are, and I decided to give them a try. I could see what she meant when she said that your music has feelings in it. The way you tell people to face their problems, see things as they truly are, have faith in themselves... it amazes me. It almost looks as if you talk from experience, which is a marvel in and of itself, seeing as you are so young."

That was the first time she'd heard an adult outside of her managing group compliment her music like that. She was glad to know that it was not just her image that had effect on older male audiences.

"What gives you the drive to write songs with such meanings," he asked.

"Well, I always wanted to help people go through their problems and I also wanted to express my own feelings, so music was the perfect way for me to reach both goals," Rise answered. She thought her response was a bit generic... maybe she was so used to giving hollow answers to such questions that the words simply came out naturally, nowadays.

"That is very noble of you. I can tell that writing your feelings as lyrics comes naturally to you," he stated. "I recall hearing on the news that have been taking a vacation from the business due to an illness... that doesn't seem to be the case, now, is it?"

That caught her attention. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know the stress that comes with being a musician. Always on the road, dealing with the pressure, having to mind your routine, not letting your personal thoughts get in the way while you're on stage... has all that caught up to you?" he asked with concern, contrary to the disdain she expected. "I couldn't take it and gave up as an adult, I can't imagine how much it must weigh for someone your age..."

He was right... the stress was what caused her to come to Inaba. She couldn't handle the life, so she demanded a break from it all... maybe retire once and for all. But escaping from one kind of stress led her to a much heavier mental strain.

"Yes, I quit because of the stress. Everything was just snowballing to a point where I couldn't take it anymore," she lowered her head a bit, but caught herself soon after and held her chin up again. "What about you? You said you were talking from experience... what made you drop your career," she asked.

"Well..." he scratched the back of his head. "I had a band, back in the day. Despite my father being against my idea of being a musician, I followed my dream and formed a group. The harmony and friendship between us was a great factor in our creative process, and in no time we had a few original songs ready. After we released our first album, we went on a tour of opening shows for bigger bands and gained quite a bit of recognition. From there, everything escalated rather quickly: only two years separated our first show as the main attraction from our first out-of-the-country tour, which was here in Japan."

Interesting... they did seem a bit too skilled for an amateur group of friends. That still didn't answer why he was playing here of all places, but Rise supposed he was getting to that part.

"I met the vocalist of a band that was going to open one of our shows and we eventually fell for each other. That upset our manager, since I began to appear late for rehearsals, my inspiration was almost all gone... I was becoming the weak link in our band because of my love for her. I ended up impregnating her and that was our manager's breaking point. He gave me the ultimatum: I either stayed with the band and left her, or I quit altogether to take care of my family. It was a tough decision, but with the help of my friends, I decided to do what was right. I chose to quit and assume my responsibilities as a father. The members of the band stood by me and disbanded, as well. The contract ended, but we made a good sum of money due to our sales. We split what we got between the members and continued living our lives. I still play music, but only as a hobby. My wife and the drummer from my former band were the ones playing with me, today. I was lucky to have found him on a day off," he explained.

That was quite the story. She did not expect so much. "Wow... now I'm the amazed one. What was the name of your ban-" she began, but was soon interrupted by her cell phone vibrating. "Ugh... I'm sorry, could you hold on a second?"

"No problem, take your time," he stated.

Rise flipped her phone open. It was a text from Yu, asking whether she had seen a blond little girl. Her name was Alice, and it appeared she had gone missing in town. He wanted her help to look for her.

She closed her phone and leaned back on her seat. She wasn't even sure whether she wanted to deal with him and the rest, let alone help them search for this girl.

"Something the matter?" Louis asked.

"It's just... my friends need help with something and I don't know whether I want to help or not..." she explained.

"Aren't they your friends? You should help them, in my opinion," he stated calmly. "I don't intend to intrude in your business, but... they are your friends, aren't they? I'm sure they would help you, if you were the one in need."

"I know, but," Rise trailed off and looked away for a brief moment. Solid point he had, there. They had already helped her in a time of need more than once. But she was still torn. "I'm not so sure about them, anymore," she continued as she laid her cell phone on the table.

"Why is that," he questioned.

"We had to make choices, and I don't think I agree with the ones they made. I'm not one hundred percent sure, myself, but... it's all so confusing to me. I just want to turn away from it and keep going my own way, but I just can't. I don't know what to do," she said, taking some of that weight off her chest. Keeping it for herself was only intensifying her pain and doubts. Even though she delivered it as a mostly vague line, she felt a little bit relieved.

"Hm..." Louis rubbed his chin. "Can I ask you something?"

Rise tilted her head slightly. "Sure, ask away."

"Why are they your friends?" he asked.

That struck her speechless for a brief moment. There was a ton of reason why they were her friends. Because they saved her life, because they fought alongside her, because they were always by her side when she needed...

"Because," she responded, more confused than ever. "They were there for me when I was at my worse."

"Then why not help them? If they were there for you, why can't you be there for them?"

She remained silent. That choice of words, 'be there for someone'...

Naoto...

"If they truly helped you that much, you can trust them. I trusted my friends, and now I know that I made the right decision. I stated before that I admired your music because of the meaning they have... they should say something about you, as well. Trust your friends, face your problems... I'm sure they will be as invaluable to you as mine were to me," he stated.

... Maybe he was right. If it wasn't for her friends, where would she be, that moment? She owed them a lot, and she should have been paying them back, instead of doubting them. Losses occurred, yes, but she wasn't the only one suffering for them. Besides, she was just as guilty as everyone else... she was not above anyone. She just had to take the first step forward and move on. Not forget, but move on.

"I... don't know what to say. Thank you very much, Mr. Louis. I really appreciate your support," Rise thanked him.

"I'm very glad to have helped," he answered with a sincere smile. "If you wanted to know the name of the band, it was One Leaf Clover. But I doubt you'll find anything, nowadays... The company took down any form of merchandising or music from circulation."

"Oh, that's a shame. I really wanted to listen to your music," Rise lamented.

"Next time I come here, I'll play some of our old songs. Is that alright with you?" Louis offered.

"Sure. When will your next rehearse here next?"

"Hmmm... I'm not certain. Maybe sometime during late winter. My wife gets her vacation by then."

"Okay. I'll be looking forward to it," she replied with a smile.

Louis looked at his watch. "Well, it's almost time I went on my way. Before I go, may I have your autograph? My daughter won't believe I met you, today."

"Of course," she said, as she sifted through her shopping bags. She had bought a small teddy bear and decided that it'd be a better gift to his daughter. "Do you have a pen?" she asked.

He reached for the vase in top of the table and took the three artificial flowers from inside. He shook the vase a bit, but it made no sound due to being empty. He turned the vase upside down...

And out came a silver pen.

"I now have one," he said with a slight smirk, before handing Rise the pen and putting the flowers back in the vase.

Wow. She giggled after a brief moment. "Cool magic trick. Were you an illusionist, too? "he asked.

"No, I just learned some tricks to impress my daughter. Her name is Lisa, by the way," Louis stated.

"Okay," she took the pen and signed on the blank side of the teddy bear's tag. That time, she signed as Rise Kujikawa instead of Risette. "Here you go," she said as she handed him the bear. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Louis."

"The pleasure was all mine." he said, as he stood up and took the bear. "I hope to see you again."

He bowed and put his white jacket on. It was not plainly white: it had a black cross on its back that seemed to reach the front side of it from the sides. He turned around and took two steps on his way to the exit before stopping.

"Oh, one last thing..."

Rise looked at him. "What is it?"

He turned towards her. "Good luck on your search," he said before resuming his walk towards the front door.

That confused her. Whatever he meant by that...?

She shook her head and flipped her phone open. She opened the message from Yu and pressed the reply button.

_"Sure, I'll help looking around, no prob,"_ she typed before pressing the send button.

* * *

**Why, you may ask. Well, because reasons. Critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th and I approve this message. **


	17. Lay Down

**Sup? Rather quick update, huh? Anyway, I don't own anything, review, enjoy, the usual. ****Let's get this started.**

* * *

Yu picked up the card that Alice left behind. It was like a summoning card, but it lacked something... a certain energy was missing... regardless, Yu stored it in his pocket and laid back on the ground. He was tired. And he was beaten by a little girl, no less.

Actually, it was a demon little girl, but hey. Besides the point.

He blinked twice and took a few deep breaths. God, he was tired. Another blink. He didn't open his eyes afterwards...

...

...

**-Elsewhere-**

Yu jerked awake with a finger snap very close to his ear. He gasped deeply and nearly fell from his strangely comfy seat.

"Calm down, young man. You are fast asleep in the real world..." Said a familiar voice.

The leader finally recomposed himself and focused on the person sat before him. Lucifer had summoned him to the Sanctuary, and was the only resident present.

He straightened himself up and looked to the side. Yosuke was sat besides him with his arms folded and legs crossed, looking away. He seemed to be annoyed.

"Oh... You're here, too." The brunette stated without looking his way. "Demon king here was telling me how that girl was some Fiend, that they're powerful as Hell, like we didn't notice, and that there are more of them. Wonderful, isn't it?"

Oh... son of a... "Is that true?" Yu asked.

"Yes. They shouldn't be so many, however... I lost quite a number of them, and 'recruiting' others is not exactly an easy task."

"Aren't you their king? Shouldn't they all bend to your will? Also, if you command them, why did one of them attack me?"

"The regent of your country demands his people to follow the laws. Does that mean that crime does not exist? Demons are more akin to humans than you would imagine. They have wills of their own. Some of them use this will to follow my rules, and others don't, is all. Stronger demons with human consciences are the hardest to deal with. Take Alice, for an example. Nebiros and Belial were the ones that kept her from running amok. She likes to refer to them as uncle Black and uncle Red, respectively."

Yu nodded.

"Ever since the two disappeared, well, she's gone out of hand. Things of the sort happen."

"But isn't there a small difference? Something to do with being the king of Hell, or something, I can't quite put my finger on what it is," Yosuke said as he rolled his eyes.

"Yes. There is also another difference. Residents of my realm are demons, not humans. If humans are different from each other and prone to breaking laws, imagine demons, whose world is ruled by chaos?"

The two sighed. Great. Fantastic.

"Speaking of Alice, she was the one who almost killed that guy in the shopping district, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I had some matters to attend to... I still do. I only found out about Alice's rampage after her fourth victim... she had been roaming about 'making friends'. Just then I could send Catherine to see about that."

... Making friends?

Then Mitsuo was really dead. Huh. Yu was not sure how to feel about that.

However, she had taken four lives. That was... he couldn't feel as bad for them as he did for the closer losses he had suffered. People died, he guessed.

... Was he starting to lose pity? He was supposed to be enraged beyond belief, at that moment.

And yet... he only felt disappointed.

"At least she died," Yosuke murmured as he flicked his hair away from his eyes.

Narukami threw a glance at his way, then turned his attention back to the man before him.

"Since your entrance here, her kind seems to have an interest in you. You might find more of them as you go on with your journey."

Great. All he needed was another Alice to kick his ass all over the place and kill even more people.

...

Yu needed to stop and think for a while. He couldn't be in the process of becoming so insensible and stoic.

He sighed, in unison with Hanamura. "Oh, joy..."

"Dammit... that's all I wanted. At least give us a heads up before we run straight into another little girl that'll knock me out and hang me from the ceiling."

Lucifer shrugged and continued. "I suggest you be careful, for they are very strong demons."

Yosuke groaned loudly.

Louis took a breath, closed his eyes and continued. "I'll try to keep tabs on their movements from now on, but are too unpredictable, even for me..."

There was a slight pause before Narukami spoke again. "O...kay. Thanks for the heads up, I guess..."

Lucifer's ghost of a scowl was still present. "That said, I shouldn't keep you here any longer. As I said, I have other matters to attend to. Until we meet again..." Farewell." Cyphre finished his goodbye.

As Yu heard the last words, he felt his conscience slipping away again as black dots started filling his vision until he could see nothing else.

...

...

**-Yukiko's Castle-**

"Senpai!"

Then he was slapped awake.

Hard.

He groaned and felt his head being lifted off the ground, then placed onto something soft.

"Senpai, are you okay?" Rise asked, after placing Yu's head to rest on her lap.

"Yeah... kinda..." he answered.

"Thank goodness!" She squealed before quickly hugging him, or rather, his head, given the position they were in.

Suddenly, the world became a better place for him and all he could hear was Rise's heart beating inside her chest...

Oh, the feeling of reward after a hard battle...

Some few, but awkward seconds passed before she let go of him and passed a snuff soul.

"Heeeeey! I'm up heeeere!" Yosuke could be heard yelling from where he was.

"Thanks." He took it and stood up on his feet, before summoning Izanagi. He sent the persona after Kanji to cut the veils wrapped around his foot and bring him to the ground safely. The same was done for Hanamura.

Then he switched to Ishtar and used a Samarecarm on the former, waking him up.

"Ugh... is that brat gone?" The newly awoken asked as he got up to his feet.

"Yeah. She vanished." Yu said. "Rise, what could you tell about her?"

"I don't know..." She hung her head. "She didn't feel like a Shadow, but she obviously wasn't human, either... I just managed to find her affinities, not much beyond that. And here I thought I was getting better at this..." She looks to the ground and fidgets a little.

Yosuke cleared his throat and quickly ran a hand through his hair before crossing his arms. "So, can we go home, now?" He asked before yawning. "Kinda wanting to sleep for a week after that disaster."

As Kanji groaned and mumbled, the leader spoke. "Okay, let's go home. I know you two," he said, looking at Tatsumi and Kujikawa, "wanna discuss stuff now, but save it for later, okay? For now, let's just head back and rest."

They all nodded and headed back to the entrance Hall, where they stored their weapons and whatever equipment that wasn't broken silently due to the exhaustion they all felt and left the TV world.

**-Junes, Electronics Dept-**

Tatsumi was the first to come out of the TV. When Yu and Yosuke went through the portal, he was already leaving without a word.

"... what's up with him," the ladder asked, as Rise passed through the TV.

"I have no idea... he's changed a lot, lately," the former replied.

"We should talk to him, sometime. I may not be his best friend, but I'm still worried," the brunette stated with concern in his tone.

The same concern reminded him of Teddie.

Yosuke knew that Yu was hiding something about him, but he got that it was most likely to not let anyone bother him while he lay low for a while. Maybe he even came across something that might lead to the answer of his existence... who knows? All he knew, was that if Narukami was trying to hide something, it was with good reason. That was how much he trusted his partner.

"Yeah, but not now. I'm beat... Let's go home. See ya guys," the leader waved him and Rise goodbye before heading back home, with more unanswered questions and doubts than he had before.

On his way back, he received a message from Rise.

'Hey, sorry for breaking the silence on that one, but what do you think that Mitsuo look alike was?'

'I've no idea. We'll have to look into that, later. But let's leave that be, for the moment, we're all tired,' he replied.

She'd have to find that out by herself. Besides, he wouldn't be sure how to explain the fact that he knew Kubo had died.

'Yeah, I guess. And senpai, this may be a bit out of the blue, but thanks for saving me, back then. Really.'

...

O...kay?

'No problem,' he replied. He wasn't sure what to say. His thoughts drifted back to his unanswered questions.

Why were Fiends targeting him?

How did someone other than a human appear in the Midnight Channel?

What was Lucifer hiding?

**-Dojima Residence-**

Yu headed to his room, got his clothes from the drawer and went straight to take a bath. He was exhausted and almost fell asleep in the bathroom. But the questions still lingered about and refused to leave his mind. What? How? When?

Why was he becoming so numb?

He soaked in for some good 30 minutes before he got off the shower. He went downstairs and got something to eat, alone as usual, and sighed as he finished his food. The loneliness always weighed a lot whenever he was at home.

He went upstairs to his room and the first thing he did was crash on his futon. It felt like the whole world fell along with him as he drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps everything would be alright when he woke up.

* * *

**There, done. This is the end of the Alice arc. Hope y'all enjoyed. Review, please. See y'all later.**


	18. Bleeding Me

Yu was sat on the bench, up at the hill overlooking town.

There was someone kneeled in front of him, laying their head on his lap. Crying copiously, clinging onto him almost for dear life.

Filled with compassion, he ran a hand through their short, straight and silky hair. Slowly but surely, their cries and sobs of fear, powerlessness and sorrow began to die down. After taking a long, pained and deep breath, the persona found voice in their throat.

"I tried... I did everything. Nothing changed, nothing pleased. The hate hurts and burns... inside and outside. I tried to look strong and hide the scars, but they still pained, stung, suffocated me... and never healed. They say hope is the last one to die..." The tears found their way back into the person's eyes. "Then let me be the first!" They began crying anew.

Their helplessness took Yu over and he felt as if his heart was being split in two inside his chest, an empathy that fed his sympathy for them. He moved his hand from their head to their exposed, bruised and torn back.

Their blood was pitch black. Touching the unnatural substance, Yu was able to share even more of their feelings.

The person bled their pain.

"I planted the seeds... respect, wisdom, good will, forgiveness... the ingratitude turned into an undying spite, and the flowers grew with thorns. These thorns pierce and tear me... and I bleed."

They took their right hand to their left shoulder. With long and sharp claws they tore their own skin, and more of their blackened blood emerged to the surface.

Yu brought his other hand to the person's face and when they raised their head, two pairs of eyes met.

One grey, the other blue.

The person then stood up, giving him the freedom to get up from the bench. He opened his arms wide and accepting the invitation, the person wrapped their arms around him.

"Narukami..." Naoto whispered into his ear...

And dug her claws into his back.

Yu screamed in pain, but no matter how much air left his lungs, his voice would not heed his call.

"Bleed me a cure..." she finished in an almost lustful tone as his world began to shift to the side, until he found himself lying on the nothingness with Naoto atop of him.

She mounted on him and buried her claws in his chest, making him release yet another soundless cry of agony. Not only did his voice desert him, his limbs did not seem to obey, as well.

"Bleed me a cure, Narukami..." she dug her claws deeper into his chest. Yu began to feel the darkness seeping through his open mouth and into his unguarded throat, eventually filling his lungs.

He was drowning under both his and her despair, as she repeated the words over and over.

All he could do was look from one side to the other, moving only his eyes in search for an escape, but everywhere he looked, she was there.

As he came closer to falling unconscious, her eyes began to turn from blue to a solid, bright yellow, and her face to slowly shit and warp... trapped in himself, he waited for the end.

Until he blinked.

And everything went away.

...

Yu sat up straight on the bed, panting hard. He patted his own chest and back frantically...

It all'd been just a dream...

It'd felt so real... he remembered, his eyelids were open, he could feel the weight of her hands on his chest... and yet...

He was alive. It had been a dream.

He hurriedly went to open the window of his room, and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, letting it fill his lungs. He could still taste the mucky darkness in his mouth...

Afterwards, he went to the bathroom to wash his face and stared into his multiple reflections in the broken mirror.

Each and every one of the reflections had a confused and fearful expression...

What happened? Was it an illusion? Some sort of spell? Never once did he have a dream so vivid...

_Ding Dong~_

His train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

He went downstairs and opened the door, to find Yosuke standing outside.

"Yo," he greeted, sizing Yu up from top to bottom. His eyebrows were a bit furrowed, his eyes were wider than usual and his hair was ruffled.

"Sup?"

"... Nice pajamas," he said with a snicker.

The tired young man looked down at himself and facepalmed. He was still wearing his Jack Frost pajamas.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What brings you here at this time in the morning?"

"Aw, come on, man. Can't a dude crash at his friend's house to have breakfast together?" The brunette smirked.

Yu rolled his eyes and let him in. He lead Yosuke to the couch to wait, as he went to ready breakfast.

"Hope you like omelet," he said as he opened the fridge.

"Whatever you feel like, dude," his partner answered before sniffing loudly. "Hey, the couch's smelling weird. Who'd you bring here last night?" He joked.

"Ha, ha, ha. I should start travelling the multiverse."

"Huh?"

"Maybe I'll find an alternate dimension where you're funny." Yu cut Yosuke off and went back to preparing breakfast.

Hanamura kicked back in the couch. "Kidding aside, how have you been holding up?" He asked with concern.

"You know, the usual. I wake up alone, go to school, come back to stay alone, maybe got to work, then go to sleep, get haunted by dead people, and that's it," Yu replied with a blank face that he couldn't see from where he was sitting.

"Oh... I guess it must be pretty tough... sorry I asked," he said, a bit downtrodden.

"... Nah, it's my fault. Sorry for bringing you down." Yu apologized.

A brief, but awkward silence followed.

"Haunted by dead people, though?"

"I had the realest dream of my life. Naoto, hugging me and crying, before stabbing me with sharp claws. I had my eyes open and I even felt her weight on me. I thought I was gonna die..."

Yosuke cringed. Ugh... that must have been horrible. He couldn't even begin to... ugh. He couldn't imagine being in his friend's skin. His skin crawled at the thought.

"But enough about me. Have you mustered the will to ask Chie out yet?" Yu asked.

"No, man... I think she just wants us to be friends. Maybe it really is better for us to stay that way, too. I mean, we've been friends for so long... I doubt a sudden change like this would keep us together for long," he replied.

"Never know till you try."

"Yeah, I guess, but what if it goes wrong? I actually have a lot to lose, here."

"That's true..." Yu said, as he took the frying pan off the stove and put the omelet in two plates. "But you also have the love maybe of your life to gain, too. I still say you should give it a try." He set the dishes on the table as Yosuke fell silent in thought.

Was it really worth the risk? Sure, he'd be the happiest person in the world if he had Chie as a lover, but he was already happy with her as a friend. He saw little point to change what was already good. He could love her and stay close to her as a friend, right?

But whenever he thought about that, the more urges he got to have her closer than a mere friend. Maybe he craved for her, maybe it was just lust, maybe it was just greed. Or who knows? It could even be true love. Who was Yosuke to know exactly what true love was like?

One thing was certain, however. He wanted her and he wanted her badly, no matter how irrational the choice seemed to be...

That was it! He made his decision. He'd got to at least try to have her for himself. And no one was going to stop hi-

"Dude." Yu snapped his fingers in front of his face. He blinked twice. "It's ready, go wash your hands."

"Ah... Oh! Sweet!" He got up and darted to the bathroom.

Narukami grinned and shook his head. The brunette needed to stop thinking out loud.

He was glad to have him. He was one of the people that could make his woes go away for a few seconds.

...

After Yosuke got back, they sat on the table and began eating.

He swallowed his first bite and asked. "Hey, wise guy, I've been thinking..."

"Hm?" Yu's attention was picked.

He calmed down before asking. "What do you think about Rise?"

Narukami began tapping his foot nervously under the table as he tried his best to keep his poker face. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just a something that crossed my mind yesterday... are you thinking of breaking up with Yukiko and dating Rise? Just askin'."

He felt a huge urge to raise an eyebrow and look surprise, but he kept his cool demeanor. "No, not at all."

Actually, that was a good question. Breaking up entirely with Yukiko and dating Rise seemed to be an easy way to not end up alone... if you ignore the fact that he still liked her.

... Hmm...

Did he, really like her?

Yu would have to think this through very carefully, when he was not busy with a battle against the prince of darkness.

"Oookay. Rise always seemed to fangirl over you, and sometimes I felt like she really meant some of her teasing." Yosuke sighed. "But maybe it was just me, seeing things that aren't there." He finished his omelet and gave a thumbs up. "Thanks, dude! That was awesome!"

"No problem." Narukami nodded with a small smile. "Now, excuse me, as I go change myself out of those inappropriate garments," he used a mock royal tone and went upstairs to get dressed.

Some moments later, he was back, with his gloves and everything.

"Took your time, madam," Hanamura joked, with that traditional goofy wink of his.

"Why, thank you." Yu curtsied with deadpan at him, earning a laugh.

"So, think we should get going now?"

"Yeah. Wait, you found a door?" He asked. He hasn't found the door to that place, himself. The only times he was there, he was summoned unconsciously.

"Yep. Let's go. I'll take you there." Youske said, as they left the Dojima household.

...

**-Junes, Staff Room-**

"... you gotta be kidding me. Why in the blue Hell did they place this door here?" Yu asked as he saw the red door standing in the corner of the room.

"I dunno. Poor planning...?" Yosuke answered with a shrug. For him, it was quite convenient, really.

The former sighed before shaking his head, for more than one reason. That dream had to leave his mind. "Let's just go in, already..." He said, as the keys began shining brightly in their pockets and a red light filled their visions.

...

**-The Sanctuary-**

As they arrived at the Sanctuary, they took a look at their surroundings. Catherine and Lupa were absent, but that didn't really matter, that moment.

"Ah, you've come." Louis greeted the teenagers.

"Just like we said we would." Yu answered.

"And this time, we're ready for you!" Yosuke pitched in.

"Such enthusiasm..." Louis stood up. "Follow me." He said, as he started heading towards a second back door that wasn't there before.

The two stood up to follow his lead.

...

**-?-**

As the door opened, Yu and Yosuke were met with the sight of a majestic entrance to a large, gold engraved gate, which had a clock above it. The door seemed to lead to nowhere, as there was nothing behind it. A red carpet also decorated with a shiny gold lay from the steps that lead to the gate, to where where the two were standing. The floor was made with tiles of a white marble and four candles rose some 8 feet above the ground. Four massive pillars surrounded the place, making a frontier between the entrance and the field of grass and flowers that stretched as far as the eye could see under the light blue sky.

"Whoa..." Was all the latter could muster.

"Welcome. To the Coloseo Purgatorio." Louis spoke, seeming somewhat proud.

Yu blew a raspberry. "Nice place you have there..."

But the beauty of the place was not what set him off.

He got a feeling... almost like a memory that wasn't his. A resonance to something that was no longer there. He could feel pain, resolve, anger, doubt...

Fear... so much fear...

But those feelings weren't his at all...

Something very big must have happened there, at some point.

But he felt as if it was no concern of his.

He put his thoughts aside and turned his attention back to Louis.

"'Before we head in, I would like to give you these." Louis made a gesture and suddenly, a thin broadsword with a silver stock guard appeared before Yu, along with forearm-long gauntlets that served as knuckles as well. "To Narukami, Michael's sword and Raphael's gauntlets."

He made the same gesture and two twin knives and a pair of shin guards appeared before Yosuke. The knives were split dead in half until the hilt, making it look like there were two blades in each knife. The hilt was was of a slightly darker gold and it had the shape of a cross. The shin guards were red and had light grey engravings. The drawing seemed to have an Indian style. "To Hanamura, the Malakh daggers and the Asura greaves."

"Cool!" Yosuke reached for his equipment with a grin on his face. He could feel the power of those weapons just by looking at them.

Yu reached for his weapons and tried some swings with his sword, just to feel the weight. It was surprisingly light. Lighter than a straight flute katana.

Also, the weapons raised a few questions in his head, but he doubted these were relevant.

Another point of question was his partner's eagerness and anticipation after the day before. He supposed his friend had all the right to cheer up, but suddenly as that...?

"Take your time making your last preparations. I'll be waiting inside." Louis said and walked towards the giant gate. As he got closer, he was surrounded by a bright light, eventually disappeared along with it.

"Hm..." Narukami put on his gauntlets and focused. He needed to be psyched for this. He searched deep within himself for his leader side, as he took some deep breaths.

Yosuke finished putting on his shin guards with a smirk. "This is it!" He hopped lightly a few times. "Let's go kick ass!" He turned towards Yu with the same confident grin.

"That's the spirit." Yu nodded back and found a smirk of his own to give. As out of place his cheerfulness was, it sure could be contagious. That was what he liked in him. "Let's go," he commanded.

_'Bleed me!'_

Ugh!

Naoto's twisted face flashed in his mind, once more. The scare translated itself to the outside of his head as an audible groan, which Yosuke took notice of.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine... it's just this place... it gives me some different vibes. Did you feel it, too?" Yu tried to lie.

"It sure is something else. I kinda felt it, too. Does that worry you?"

"Not really," he said dismissively with a shake of his head and began to walk forward, as the brunette hummed and followed after him.

And so, they began walking towards the door. They were engulfed by the same bright light as before, as their vision was blinded for some brief seconds.

...

**-Colosseo Purgatorio, arena-**

When the light died down, Yu and Yosuke found themselves in a huge coliseum. The sky was crimson, the circular coliseum had six giant pillar like torches, which rose above the ground. There was a circular pattern drawn with a faint light that emerged from the ground. It looked like a circular maze, but the edges looked like a clock, with the roman numbers from I to XII.

In front of them stood Louis, with a bright yellow glow to his eyes.

"I see you are prepared... As I said before, you have no reason to hold back," he spoke, almost as if demanding.

"What makes you think we would?" Yu answered.

"You're the one who'd better not hold back, or else you won't last two seconds!" Yosuke pitched in, with a cocky smirk.

"... That is good to hear..." Louis said, content with their answers, before lowering his head. He concentrated: a white light began to shine from under him. Suddenly, the light turned into a surge of bright energy that engulfed him, making the two shield their eyes.

When the light subsided, his appearance had changed. His hat was not present anymore, two horns now stuck out from his head. His clothes were still there, his white jacket with a cross on its back, his grey shirt, his spades pendant and his blue pants still in place. His arms were surrounded by swirling chains that formed a spiral along his arms. What stood out the most, were the two big, angelic wings that his aura formed on his back.

"I am Lucifer, the fallen angel..." he spoke in a deep, dignified voice. "Fight me like you would for your life!" He demanded, as the two drew their weapons and took their stances.

"Let's go, partner!" Yosuke shouted, to which Yu nodded, as he readied Izanagi's card in his palm with a determined expression.

"Now..." Lucifer took his feet off the ground and began floating. "It is time to prove your worth!"

"Come!"

* * *

**See y'all next chapter.**


	19. This Day We Fight!

"Izanagi!" Yu crushed his card, and the Creator god appeared to lunge towards Lucifer.

"Tempest Slash!" He commanded. Izanagi swung his Naginata to slash the Dark Prince who caught the blade between his hands and pushed the persona back, before igniting the chains around his arms and launching a fireball straight into its chest, forcing it to disappear into static.

The leader clutched his chest, as he felt the same pain.

Yosuke was set into motion, charging forward. He jumped and came down with an overhead slash with one of his knives, but Lucifer glided to the side. He, however, wasn't about to stop and turned around with another slash, but the Fallen Angel caught his arm and threw him onto Yu, before sending another sphere of hell fire in the two's direction.

Narukami rolled to one side and Hanamura jumped to another, avoiding the vicious fireball.

Lucifer didn't relent and glided towards the former at high speed, aiming a punch to his jaw. He hastily ducked under the fist, but his throat was grabbed by the other hand. He couldn't get out of his captor's grip, no matter how much he kicked and yelled.

Cyphre then smashed a fist on his face, sending him flying back with a pained scream.

He was about to go finish the work, but was interrupted abruptly by a soaring blade slashing at his back. He turned towards the direction from which the attack came, only to be immediately met with a gale hitting him on the face. He staggered for a brief moment, before he ignited the chains on his arms and charged towards Yosuke, hurling two fireballs at him while he advanced.

The brunette weaved and jumped out of the way of the spheres, before readying Susano-O's card.

"Person- Ugh!" But was interrupted by Lucifer's fist slamming on his stomach and infusing the same hand with fire, before firing an Agidyne from point blank range, blasting him back.

In the meantime, Yu had recovered and broke into a run to aid his friend. Just as the fireball was fired, he swung his sword on Lucifer's side with a horizontal slash, which he felt and made him grit his teeth.

Narukami didn't stop and just as Cyphre turned towards him with a punch, he ducked and infused his sword with lightning, before bringing it up with an uppercut slash. As his enemy staggered back a bit, he didn't miss a beat on switching back to Loki and crushing his card.

"Bufudyne!" The persona encased Lucifer's lower body in ice, before Hanamura came running and delivered a flying kick to his face with his wind infused right leg.

The kick was strong, and sent the Dark Prince skidding back.

Yu and Yosuke regrouped, as their foe got up and dusted himself off.

"Pretty good... Now how about we spice things up a bit?"

Lucifer snapped his fingers. Two of the six massive torches around the arena lit up with a purely crimson fire.

"Let's see if you have more than just luck on your side!" He spoke, as the chains around his arms started glowing golden, instead of their previous fiery red.

Yu decided to test something. He switched to Vayu and felt a bit of a stirring as he and Yosuke felt a boost of speed and power.

Interesting.

Lucifer quickly hurled a sphere of the same golden energy that empowered his chains at the latter. It was fast, but the brunette dodged by leaping to the side and summoned Susano-O.

"Magarudyne!" He commanded. The persona made multiple bursts of wind surge from under Lucifer. The Fallen Angel was fast, however, and glided out of the way of each one.

Then Yu was the one to take action.

"Ziodyne!" He crushed Vayu's card. The god made a bolt of lightning rain down on Lucifer.

The Dark Prince simply thrust his hand upwards and caught the bolt, before launching it like a spear towards his partner.

Hanamura raised a cross block in front of himself, getting ready for the hit, but it never came, as Yu put Vayu in front of him and took the hit instead.

The leader nodded at him and dismissed his persona. As if on cue, Yosuke darted towards Lucifer with his knives infused with wind power.

Cyphre glided out of the way of a Garudyne from Narukami before meeting the brunette's charge head-on. He blocked a kick, then ducked under a high slash and got ready to shove an almighty fist down the his throat, but was forced to hastily sidestep Vayu's ax kick.

Yosuke didn't waste the opportunity and kicked Lucifer across the face, then tried a slash to his head, but Lucifer caught his arm. He tried to break free, but the grip was much too strong.

He then proceeded to will his chains to entangle around the boy's arm, treading like a snake along his forearm until his shoulder, before igniting them with almighty energy.

Hanamura screamed as the chains burned hard, loose, and clean on his skin.

"Yosuke!" Yu shouted. Clenching his jaw, he charged towards Lucifer. Once in striking range, he brought the sword down on his arm, making him release Yosuke. He then followed up with a heavy slash to the demon's face, which actually opened a cut, making demonic blood trail down his cheek.

Narukami saw this and felt the need to spill more of his blood. He summoned a card into his palm...

"Vayu!" And crushed it, calling forth the persona. "Hell Thrust!" He commanded. Vayu did a mighty thrust kick to Lucifer's chest with his bladed left foot.

The fallen angel barely had time to raise a cross block in front of himself and guard against the assault, but the kick still managed to pierce through his flesh and made him bleed.

Lucifer growled as he parried a follow-up slash to the side with his chains before snapping his fingers again, making two more torches light up with crimson fire.

Then he stretched the chains on his left arm and wrapped them around Yu's torso. He tried to break the chains with his sword, but it was of no use, as Cyphre ignited his chains with golden almighty energy again, charring the leader's skin.

"Gaaack!" Yu couldn't hold back the scream as his body got burnt. The pain was so intense, it was like his very nerves were burning instead of just his skin. Lucifer intensified the energy on his chains, making the young man scream again and drop to one knee, releasing his grip on his sword.

He was not about to let it end there, however. He bit back his screams and pain and grabbed a hold of the burning chains with his free hand, before switching to Loki. The pain was almost insufferable even through his gauntlet, but he had to keep his mind calm.

He mind charged quietly and tried to fight back the almighty fire on the chains by infusing them with a Niflheim.

Lucifer widened his eyes slightly at that. He was starting to freeze the chains around his own torso and the ice had begun to reach for the demon's arm. He tried to put even more power into his chains, but it was useless. The chains around Yu were already covered in a thin layer of ice.

Narukami switched his persona again.

"Thor!" He shouted before biting his summoning card and commanded the Thunder God to bring his Mjolnir down on the iced chains, shattering them and setting him free.

Lucifer growled lowly at that and tried a strike with the chains on his right hand, but Yu sidestepped before noticing Susano-O flying above him.

"Brave Blade!" Yosuke screamed from his spot, commanding his persona to kick its circular blade soaring in Cyphre's direction

The Fallen Angel was caught off guard. The blade managed to cleanly hit his face, opening a large, diagonal cut across it and sending him staggering back.

This was Yu's chance. He quickly power charged as he picked his sword up from the ground and took off in a run in Lucifer's direction while infusing his blade with wind.

"Raaagh!" Once within striking range, he thrust his sword forward with all his fury and might, actually piercing right through the demon's chest.

Yu's rage was not quelled, however, as he kept charging forward and pushing him down with his sword, until he felt his sword thrust the ground, leaving Cyphre impaled and motionless. Demonic blood began to flow from the wound in his chest and from the corner of his mouth.

Narukami released his sword and took a couple of steps back, panting hard. He ran a hand through his hair and stared at his downed foe.

He had Lucifer impaled and broken at his feet.

He actually did it.

He turned on his heels with a laugh of disbelief and rushed towards Yosuke to thank and check up on him.

"Yosuke, can you stand?"

"Yeah...' And stand he did, with Yu's help. "We did i-"

"Raaaaagh!"

A sudden roar filled the arena. The two turned towards the owner of the scream and found Lucifer bursting into a surge of blinding light, forcing both of them to cover their eyes.

Lucifer had risen from the ground, with Yu's sword still thrust in his chest. His clothes were torn and ragged and his skin was darker than before. His fangs and horns were longer and his darker aura now formed six wings on his back.

Yosuke didn't even get a chance to remove his hands from in front of his eyes, as Lucifer lunged towards him at blind speed and punched the boy with all his might in the face, breaking his nose and sending him flying back and crashing against the wall.

"Aaack!"

"Yosuke!" The leader called out at the cue of the pained scream.

Lucifer did not relent and backhanded Yu hard in the face, sending him skidding back before he dug the sword out of his chest to hurled it spinning horizontally towards his target.

Narukami jumped hurriedly to the side, but he was not quick enough to keep the sword from slashing his side nastily, making him scream.

He fell to one knee and clutched the wound, in a futile attempt of stopping the flowing blood. He tried to ready his summoning card in his palm, concentrating hard because of the pain...

But Lucifer charged towards again and punted him furiously on the forehead, sending him flying then thumping back, nigh unconscious. He then snapped his fingers again, lighting up the two remaining torches.

The flames began flickering wildly as they went from their their unnatural crimson to golden. The fallen angel's own wings began to dance wildly like fire.

His aura grew slightly, as if to call out for the flames. And the fires heeded the call, as they left the torches and shot towards his hands. He brought his hands together and pointed the huge amount of almighty fire at Yu.

"**Morning Star!**"

He shot the attack, and the leader put his hands in front of himself in a futile attempt of defending himself.

But that didn't matter, as all he saw afterwards was darkness.

"Gaaaaack!"

...

Yu opened his eyes slightly. The buzzing in his ears made him deaf to everything. The only thing he saw in front of him was a flickering shadow.

He opened his eyes further... and that shadow was Susano-O, fading into static.

...

Yosuke felt his head his head split open. Never once in his life did he feel so much pain. He was clutching his head, as if to keep the two halves of his head from falling apart, but it simply wasn't working. He couldn't even find his voice to scream anymore as he tumbled to the side, curled into a ball and shaking from the pain. He couldn't fall unconscious, as he didn't sustain any physical damage, but his mind was screaming. He clenched his jaw, as his vision blacked out and flickered for a split second and he looked at Yu.

At least he was glad that he defended his partner. He gave the slightest of smiles through his grit teeth and pain, before he allowed his persona to disappear.

Narukami glanced at him and witnessed his pain.

He was going through that because he had faith in him...

...

Lucifer looked briefly at the downed Yosuke, then at Yu. His teeth were grit tight and he was standing up. He could feel Yu's resolve from where he was standing.

... Wait...

That was not resolve.

In fact, he was only seeing a determined face... not much past that. Where was that feeling... that presence?

Where was the boy that was standing there just seconds ago?

Yu stood tall and looked dead at Lucifer's eyes from his position. He spread his arms wide, as if to invite the Fallen Angel to come at him. And he obliged, but not before showing the slightest hint of hesitation. He glided at high speed towards and slammed his fist hard on the leader's stomach. His fist connected cleanly, and sent him skidding back a bit...

But Narukami had his expression and stance intact. He didn't even lose his balance. It was as if he was never hit at all...

Lucifer did not stop and charged again, aiming an almighty infused fist at Yu's face and once again it connected full on...

But not only did he withstand the punch with his scowl still on his face, he returned the punch at the same time.

And Cyphre staggered back.

... He didn't get it.

He felt Yu's nose and cheek bone shatter and break under his fist when he landed his punch, but that did not stop the young man. His will did not falter.

But he was a human... his resistance was almost as illogical as a candle struggling to stay lit in the depths of the ocean.

... He just didn't get it.

Maybe that was why he'd never be able to brave the hollow forest.

He'd never understand humans.

Yu followed up with an uppercut to chin Lucifer's chin and he felt it, as he was lifted a few centimeters off the ground before Narukami then reached for his throat with one hand.

The demon tried to break free by applying crushing force to his wrist, but it was not working.

The leader slammed Lucifer on the ground. His scowl only darkened as he delivered the first downward punch with his free hand, opening a scar on the forehead under his fist. Another punch was thrown to make his nose bleed, as if the his previous gash did not make his face bloody enough.

The demon then took a hold of Yu's arm with both hands and willed his chains to wrap around it, before igniting them with as much almighty energy he could muster. He saw his skin burn and the smoke come out of the charred wounds, but that simply did not stop him.

Narukami grabbed a hold of his neck with both hands and viciously slammed his head on the ground twice, before Power Charging, infusing his fist with Niflheim, and punching him in the face again, opening a small crater on the hard ground under Lucifer's head.

Yu stood up straight and stomped on Lucifer's chest, as if to pin him down. Then he switched to Vayu and concentrated, never once letting go of his scowl.

...

Yosuke's aching mind seemed to stop screaming for a long, almost eternally brief while. Time seemed to slow down, as he felt something click in his mind...

His own persona had switched.

The peace he felt now was so strong, he'd completely forgotten about the excruciating pain he was in just seconds ago.

He instinctively reached for the summoning card in front of him.

It was Vayu.

"Vaya..." He whispered, crushing his card...

...

Yu felt his persona switch with Yosuke, and with it came the pain that he was feeling.

But he clenched his jaw tighter and willed Susano-O's card to appear before him.

"... Viya!" He crushed the card, completing his partner's silent whisper.

As the two personae appeared, clouds began forming on the ground. Lightning cackled within them, as if there was a storm ready to reach upwards.

Susano-O was the first to make a hurricane surge from under Lucifer and Yu. The latter was unharmed, but the former could feel the wind biting and slashing his skin.

Then Vayu was the one to raise his own twister inside of the hurricane, only intensifying the storm. Lucifer's skin was beginning to tear out of his flesh, until Yu suspended him by the throat in the midst of the raging winds.

The hurricane narrowed before the god of the northern winds willed a massive lightning bolt to rain upon Lucifer, dispelling the windstorm with a large shock wave as Narukami released the Fallen Angel, allowing him to be blasted back, then falling with a thud on the ground.

To say that he was broken was an understatement. He was shirtless, exposing the several wounds on his torso. His left horn was broken and his face was a bloody mess. His chains had lost their glow, much like his aura was diminishing gradually.

He tried to stand up and face the Wild Card before him. His stare was vacant, but his expression was every bit as menacing as the strongest demon's... perhaps even more.

He was a special kid...

Lucifer smiled tiredly. He'd actually reached the limits of his angelical self. It's been a while since he felt so much thrill and pain in a battle.

These two went beyond his expectations.

"I... yield." Lucifer said, as he fell to one knee and let his aura fade out.

* * *

**Vaya Viya- Massive Storm damage to multiple foes. **


	20. Hell or High Water

Yu paid no attention to the words and kept walking towards Lucifer. His vacant, angry stare aimed at the downed demon's eyes didn't seem like it was ever going to let go of the target. It was not a furious young man that was staring him down: it was the anger that was glaring holes into Cyphre.

He had become his own anger.

The Fallen Angel was not afraid, however. He returned Narukami's stare with his own neutral expression as he got closer and closer to him...

Until the leader closed his eyes. He stopped and his shoulders lowered, as if on cue. His head tilted a bit to the side as he took a deep breath...

And he collapsed on the ground.

"Yu! Ugh!" Yosuke yelled from his place, but before he could support himself to stand up, he felt Susano-O coming back to his psyche, along with the immense pain. He fell to his knees and gritted his teeth once again, even the force of his raised voice was magnifying the pain. And his incoherent screams of pain were louder than before, now that he lay eyes on his bleeding partner.

Lucifer took a deep breath and looked at the patterns on the ground: the numbers from I until VIII were lit with a lukewarm glow, the light seemingly coming from underground. He put a hand on the number XII and started whispering words, almost in a low hum. The remainders of the aura he previously sported began flowing along his arm and onto the ground, and the numbers from IX to XII lit up as if fed by his energy. When all of the numbers became lit, him, the unconscious Yu and the downed Yosuke were engulfed by a bright light.

...

...

**-The Sanctuary-**

Yu woke up on his comfy chair, at the cue of a strange warmness taking over his body. By his side was Yosuke, who had his eyebrows furrowed and two fingers on each of his temples. Louis and Catherine were the only residents in the room, the latter was sat next to the brunette, apparently healing him.

"You're awake. Congratulations on overcoming the test." Lucifer greeted the newly awoken teenager.

Yu tried to remember what happened in the last moments before the distinct click happened, but it was no use. All he could recall hearing the click and Yosuke's screams once more before regaining his vision and collapsing. He knew that they won, but... he couldn't fathom how. And that was exactly how he came across an idea of how he managed to beat the fallen angel.

He must have touched the Absence.

A quick check for damages: his torso was not burnt, his face was in place, his back was unhurt... everything seemed to be fine.

"You pushed me to the limits of my angelical form. That is a feat in and of itself, I salute you. You surpassed my expectations, even." Lucifer said with the ghost of a smirk on his features. "For that, I give you this," he snapped his fingers, bringing a card onto his hand before he passed it to Yu. It had the picture of an angel with six wings, bright, almost golden long hair and two horns, wearing nothing but a spiral of immaculately white cloth. The card's frame was very similar to the one of the personae's summoning cards, only it was darker. "my spell card... one of my archetypes."

Yu took took the card into his hands and pulled the one he got from Alice from his pocket. The two cards lacked the same thing, in his eyes.

"Oh, I see you have Alice's spell card, as well. Those cards only need a fragment of your psyche to be used as a persona. I'm afraid your friend will not be able to use them, unfortunately." Louis explained.

Speaking of Yosuke...

Both Cyphre and Yu looked at the brunette and Catherine. The former looked specially puzzled. They should have left the Coloseo in a state no different than the one they had entered...

Could it be that personae were unbound by time? Or was their perception unaffected by the rules of the Wheel? Was it the human psyche that worked differently?

Humans have always puzzled Lucifer, in many aspects. All of his interactions with them left unanswered questions, be it for their reasons, for their hypocrisy, or simply the way they worked. He sure knew a lot about the world and things out there. Hell, he'd even entered minds and read thoughts, but the depths, the gears in the confines of the mind that turned and worked to make humans act would always be a mystery to him. And then, at that moment, a reflection of one's psyche was transcending time, right in front of him.

Yosuke had stopped screaming since he returned to the Sanctuary, but his pain was still nigh unbearable. Upon leaving the Coloseo, all of the injuries sustained in that place had disappeared, minus his intense headache. He was healed time and again, but nothing worked.

Regardless...

"I think it's time I fulfill my part of the deal. Hanamura, try to pay attention," Louis called out. The brunette just painfully nodded and groaned in acknowledgement as Catherine went back to Cyphre's side.

"You remember Namatame's side of the story, yes?" The two nodded. "As you know well, his first victim was your friend, Yukiko Amagi. Now, let's start from the very first murder: Mayumi Yamano. In light of her affair, all of her live broadcasts have been cancelled and she was away from the news channel. She was staying at the Amagi Inn when someone who had taken an interest called her to the building's lobby late at night for 'something important'.

As it turned out, that person had taken a 'liking' to her, and was specially upset about the affair the news had been showing. When she didn't deny it, the upset turned to anger. The person assaulted Yamano and by accident, they shoved her into the lobby's TV screen. Do keep in mind that was when they found out that a human could go completely inside."

Yu raised an eyebrow. Just because of that? How much luck was involved in that? No witnesses, the pure chance of discovering something random as that... and the sheer uproar it caused. Just by a few strokes of luck. Only the first part, no names yet, and he was already disgusted.

"As for the second victim, Saki Konishi: she was called in for questioning by the Inaba PD. During her interrogation, the officer stated that he saw her talking to Namatame and presumed that they were getting intimate. He tried to 'make a move on her' but was rejected, so simply out of spite, he threw her into interrogation room's TV."

Wait.

"...Officer?!" Yosuke yelled the question.

"Yes. The one responsible for these two deaths is Tohru Adachi. And that is not all."

Yu slammed his hands on the table as Yosuke stared wide eyed. "What?! That's nonsense! Adachi?! The killer and a Wild Card?!"

"When Namatame called the police upon seeing Amagi in the Midnight Channel, the one that answered his call was Adachi. He did not simply brush the man off: he gave one gentle push towards Taro's decision of kidnapping people, by saying that maybe he was the only one who could do something by putting them in a safe place. I told you, you could never read into him, even though you should have been suspicious of him since early in the case. The easy access he had to your house, the insight he eventually gave into the police's progress, his privileged position to dispose of evidence... the little difficulty he'd have deploying an anonymous warning letter to your house... the constant surveillance he could keep on your actions..."

That couldn't be... Adachi? Really? Yu was finding that less believable than the fact that he was talking to the Antichrist.

But... his arguments held truth.

Was it really in their faces that whole time? Was the chance to end the case constantly close to them? Did they really let themselves be fooled by Adachi's apparent goofiness?

"See for yourselves. Go forth and confront him. I speak the truth. Besides, I don't presume you have that big of a suspect list," Louis continued.

Yu's fists trembled and became white from the pressure. It couldn't be true. So many things were wrong with this, he couldn't even pick a starting point.

Wait.

Constant surveillance...?

He stopped shaking for a moment. "... what if it was you, all along?"

Cyphre raised a brow. Narukami continued. "I don't know the full extent of your powers, though I do know that you can, indeed have a close eye on us. Who's to say it wasn't you that threw them in the TV? Who's to say it wasn't you who delivered that letter to my house? Who's to say you aren't the cause of everything, from the Midnight Channel to my power?! Huh?! Explain that!" He pointed a finger to Lucifer's face.

The fallen angel stared into Yu's face for a while. "Catherine, take care of the Sanctuary while I am away, please." She nodded. He then turned back to the two. "Accompany me." He snapped his fingers, and the two's consciousness began fading away.

...

...

**-Junes- **

Yu and Yosuke found themselves back in the staff room.

"Follow me." It seemed Lucifer had stepped out, as well. The three headed to the electronics department, with distrusting looks being thrown all the way.

They walked to the television they commonly used to get to the 'entrance lobby', as they called it. A brief look around the place showed that not many people were there... some three, or four people were looking at cellphones at the other end of the section.

"Pay attention to this." Cyphre told the two.

He gave two knocks on the screen as he would a door. His hand didn't trigger a single ripple.

... Oh.

"Well, you could have an accomplice..." Yu rebutted. Yosuke seemed to be quiet... was that headache really that strong?

Lucifer offered his hand. "Try it for yourself."

Narukami took the hand and tried to put it through the screen. It didn't work. His hand would not go through. He even tried putting the demon's hand in when his own was already inside, but nothing worked.

"I am not allowed into that realm. Therefore, I could not have thrown anyone in there."

"What about your Fiends and the other residents?"

Louis sighed. "To be frank, I currently have no more Fiends, aside from Catherine. All of them disappeared. Alice was the last one of them, and you know very well what she did and how she ended up. It will be a while until she returns. There is one I am working on, but controlling him is proving to be difficult.

Lupa is not a demon. Believe me when I say that he would not do anything like throwing someone in a television to die, but most of all... why would I scheme to throw people in a television just to have you save them? Sure, I could be trying to help you now to gain your trust so that I could 'stab you in the back' later to continue throwing people in, but what would that accomplish? I wouldn't be able to do anything there since I can't enter it, myself. So 'nothing' is what I say to you. Besides, I don't have the personnel ready to focus on said scheme. I have quite the issue in my hands."

"What about the other resident?"

"Busy fighting."

"Against...?"

"For now, that is none of your concern. It does not have anything to do with your journey."

So they were fighting something or someone. What if that was the reason why most of the residents were absent most of the time? What were they fighting? It must have been pretty huge.

"... You said you're working on Fiends? How the Hell are they created?" Yu said.

"... Let's just say I harvest them."

"You harvest demons?"

"I'd rather not go into details. That does not concern the matter at hand. So, as you see, even though I virtually could, I would not have thrown anyone in the TV world. Well, I must go back. I was not planning on leaving the Sanctuary. I have important matters to attend to, so-"

"You always have important matters to attend to. What are those?"

"... I am the king of Hell. I am the busiest being in the universe. Everywhere there's something that calls for my attendance, and I must always make haste. Even more so now that there is an ongoing battle with so much at stake. Go and see for yourselves if I spoke the truth, or wait in disbelief and face the consequences. Time is running out... your time is running out. Farewell." He said as he turned around to take his leave.

But Yu held his wrist.

"Wait! Give us some straight answers, already! I'm tired of those half baked explanations and hints and secrets and matters to attend to! For Christ's sake-"

Lucifer's eyes widened and his mouth curved down into a scowl.

"Look here," he said as he broke his wrist out of Yu's grip. He grit his teeth and hissed his next words. "I get that you are suspicious, but why can't you look at things logically for a change?! I really have matters to attend to: I have lost a great deal of my most precious soldiers, there is a bloody war going on at my domain's yard, and you still think I'd have business throwing people in a world I know nothing about?! What do you think would be the consequences of such petty evil to me? You should be thankful that I am pointing you in the right direction!"

"Then why the Hell are you helping us?!"

Cyphre closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Follow me, once again," he began to head for the exit. The two followed him after exchanging looks.

Upon getting to the exit...

What the Hell?

When did it become foggy in town?

"Do you see this fog? This is the fog of oblivion: the one thing that prevents me from entering the TV world, as you call it. Now it lacks the strength to push me out or to do anything else, but it will keep seeping into your world, getting thicker and thicker, until it surpasses the fog in the television! Your world will turn into another land of oblivion! You want proof? Put on your glasses."

Both of them put the glasses on and sure enough: the fog vanishes.

"The cause of this is Adachi. This was his plan all along, to join the two worlds! I don't know how, but now it is coming to fruition. That is one of my goals: to secure my free circulation in this world. If the fog completely seeps in, I won't be able to walk this Earth again, my numbers will diminish and I will lose the war. I need this world, and you are the ones who can guarantee its future. Also, Shadows will begin to populate your world, and they will eventually go berserk against anyone who does not follow their nature! The only thing you can do is defeat him and reverse this process before it is too late. See? What you have to do is hurry, for the good of both me and the humans. Throw that foolish skepticism down and do what I tell you!"

Yu was conflicted. He did not have enough proof of Lucifer's explanation, but everything he put out was so real... he was still suspicious, but he had no proof that the demon was behind everything either. All he could say would be assumptions and baseless conjecture.

What to do?! He did not have proof of anything!

He looked at the quiet Yosuke: still not a word. He just shook his head, not sure of anything.

Then he looked at the ground. What could he do?

He took a deep breath. Would he make another wrong choice? Was he even sure of anything at that moment? Regardless, he had to choose at that moment.

...

"... where is Adachi," he asked.

"At the hospital. Go while he does not go back to the other world."

Yu nodded. "Yosuke, let's go," he said. He'd have to take a chance and stop asking questions, this time. The choice was made, no time to turn back.

"Finally. I will be going. Best of luck." Cyphre said as he took his leave.

The two began to make their way to the hospital.

* * *

**Well, that's done. It is at this chapter that things start taking a turn to the next level of serious. Some things will branch off of this chapter, one which should be the next thing I'll write. Well... you know the deal. Critics and suggestions in the review box below, Raidou the 16th... I approve this message. *thumbs up* See ya'll later. **


	21. Trust

**Hello. Long time no see. Updated chapter, because I'm slowly getting back the groove of this story. Usual disclaimers, blablabla, hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**-Inaba Municipal Hospital-**

"Um, excuse me, miss... have you seen Adachi-san around?"

"Oh, hello, Narukami. Adachi went to visit Dojima-san's room. He looked so worried, you might want to go take a look at that, yourself."

"Okay. Thank you," Yu said, leaving the secretary to her business before he turned around and nodded to the quiet Yosuke. "Let's go."

The two began their walk towards the west ward, Yosuke with his head lower than usual.

"The headache didn't go away, yet...?"

"No..." Yosuke finally spoke. "My head feels so heavy, I feel like keeling over... But I'm okay, I'm not backing down just because of that," he continued, already replying Yu's worry.

Which did not exactly dismiss his concerns. He threw a glance at his partner before he look forward, then lowered his head and put his hands in his pockets.

That corridor surely felt long...

He didn't know if it was the expectation or if he just felt sluggish. With his mind boiling with a million thoughts at once, he wouldn't really be surprised if he took the wrong way to Dojima's room, but the windows in the corridor told him the contrary.

Same frames, same cracked knob on one of them...

Same old. Only bleaker.

Maybe what gave him that feeling of being in the wrong way was the darker, foggy lighting that seeped through the glasses. It was never like that dark at that time of the day.

It was also very quiet, even though Yu knew very well there were people there.

So quiet, it almost felt as if it was abandoned.

But abandoned by whom, if not by the people there?

By faith? By hope? By something higher...?

Nah...

That was just him.

But who knew? Maybe he was just really getting too philosophical over a quiet walk in a hospital.

Or maybe that was just one of the thoughts in his head that have been there this whole time. It was so silent, all he could hear was his and Yosuke's steps. Surely he could hear a few of the countless whispers filling his mind's ears in between the sound of his strangely patient walk.

What was not the same in the corridor, however, was the fact that a doctor was talking to Sayoko near one of the windows, in the middle of the day.

"What's with this fog...? I feel the chill and we don't even have the AC turned on..." Yu heard her say.

"This might be just your imagination. Weather and colors affect your mood, maybe today's just getting to you," the doctor replied.

She just gave the doctor her dismissing smile and looked away, turning towards Yu. Her smile turned a bit more sincere at the sight of him, and he answered her with a nod and a smile of his own. Maybe she was just paying her hours before leaving the hospital...?

Regardless, they continued their walk and eventually reached Dojima's ward. Upon approaching his room, they began hearing voices inside.

"What do you mean that kid died? He just up and hung himself...? Ugh!" Dojima's voice could be heard.

"Look, I know things may seem a bit complicated right now, but rest easy. I got things covered, there were a lot of clues in the scene, don't worry. Just try and get better, okay? The doctor should be here again in a few... me, too, actually. I'll be back."

That was Adachi.

They stood and waited for the door to open and sure enough, the man came out of the room.

Yu could swear the guy stared into his eyes for the briefest of moments before replying. "Oh, hello guys. Came to visit Dojima-san?"

"Yeah, but could we have a talk with you, really quick?"

The detective scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Well, if it's quick... I kinda have stuff to do, so..."

Okay, they had his attention. Where could they begin...?

Yosuke was the one to take the initiative, surprisingly enough. "We've been having some doubts about the deaths before the kidnappings started..."

Adachi actually looked surprised. "Wow... what's that all of a sudden?"

"We are sure that the one behind the kidnappings was Namatame, but we're finding it hard to believe that he killed the two before that..."

"Do you have any clues regarding that yet, Adachi-san?"

"Jeez... you guys sure ask some weird stuff. The police still didn't dismiss Namatame as the doer of those crimes and to be honest, I think the case against him is pretty solid, as well." He then began speaking in a more hushed tone. "Look, I don't know what you guys did, if he ran away, if you hid him somewhere, and I honestly don't wanna know. All that I can say is that we are in pursuit of him because his case is simply too solid to drop."

"Is there really no proof of the involvement of anyone else in the case...?" Yu asked.

"Of course not," Adachi replied. "Can we continue this talk later? I got things to do at the station and I really, really shouldn't be babbling about this. I'm just saying all that because you deserve to know the truth, after all that's happened, so..." He turned to the side and began to walk.

But Yu was quick to reach and take hold of his wrist, with a grip stronger than he intended. He was not supposed to supposed to be aggressive, just yet.

Breathe...

"Hold on just a little longer, Adachi-san," he said, after adjusting his tone.

After he finished his question, he could feel the blood pulsing faster in his wrist, which was the cue for him to lighten his grip a little. After the detective took a breath and turned back around, he looked at the two teenagers.

"What is it," he asked, sounding more flat than usual.

The door opened again. Dojima had come out of the room with his crutches and leaned against the wall to support himself. "What's going on, now?"

"These kids are asking about police business, I'm just trying to keep my mouth shut, here."

"No, I mean why are you two asking about the first two deaths," he asked, turning towards Yu and Yosuke. "I thought only I and... Is this because of Shirogane?" He finished his question.

Because of Shirogane...

Yu had an idea. But first, he needed to set it up.

"You said there are no clues of his innocence of the first two deaths... We are pretty sure that it wasn't him. Nothing adds up... Not his testimony, not his agenda... Not the letters sent to me... Speaking of, where are those? His notebook and his letters, I mean."

"... Yeah, what about those. You did take them to crime lab for examination like I told you, right? So, what are the results?"

Adachi looked away and swallowed dryly. "I, uh..."

"You...?!" He narrowed his gaze at the younger detective.

"I lost them..." he answered, hanging his head.

Dojima visibly grit his teeth and almost dropped his crutches. "You what?! Those were pivotal clues, how the Hell did you lose them?!"

His eyes widened at his boss' already expected outburst. If it wasn't so chilly, Yu could swear he would start sweating bullets any moment. "I-I was, uh... so many papers arrived at my desk lately, I-I couldn't really-"

"Shut up, you...! Ugh!" Clearly losing the little patience he had, Dojima may have busted a few stitches there.

Yosuke didn't react fast enough, but both Yu and Adachi acted quickly at the sight of him doubling over. The effort to help him stand upright again was simultaneous, and the two took the injured man back to his bed, the other following them into the room.

Adachi was the one to call the nurse through the hotline in the room, telling them to come quickly. "Well, the doctor will be here soon. Don't scare me like that again, Dojima-san..." he said with a worried sigh.

... His tone made Yu think for a bit.

Was he really the one behind the murders...? The clues were in his face, but... there was something about his presence...

He felt as if the man could have the world accusing him, if he looked at you with that goofy half smile of his, you'd just say 'nah'.

Really, there was nothing in his posture, nothing in his body language... nothing that pointed to any other attitude under that grin of his. To Yu, he was literally just that.

He couldn't be the one...

But wait.

Wasn't Yu just the same to everyone he met?

Who could tell the boy cleaning the windows in the hospital, who you could see jump at every window that closed with the wind, was really someone who entered TV's to save people with the power of his mind?

Who could tell the kid who spent Sundays talking to old ladies was really the one who smashed a bass on someone's head?

Who could tell the same guy that spent afternoons taking care of the children at the daycare was really the one chosen by Lucifer?

... So to look past the surface, you sometimes had to look into yourself, huh?

Food for thought.

"Thanks for helping, but don't think you're off the hook just yet." His doubts renewed, Yu asked, sterner than before.

The detective turned towards him with a puzzled look. "... Off the hook...?"

"I think we know why you 'lost' those clues." Yosuke spoke, for the first time in a while, more venom in his words than Yu had expected.

"... I just said, there were one too many papers on my desk, and... do you know how big the file for Kubo's incident wa-?"

"Adachi!"

"Gaah, sorry!" Dojima's roar made Adachi jump.

"Cut the act!" Yosuke snapped. All eyes turned to him. "We know it was you!"

Adachi's eyebrow rose and both of his eyes widened, but his mouth didn't open. An expression Yu'd never seen on his face before.

"It was I that what...? I'm not sure I follow..." he looked aside.

"It was you who killed the first two victims!"

"What?!" Both detectives exclaimed before looking at each other.

"We know everything. From how you disappeared with Yamano during your guard shift at the Inn, to how you disappeared with Saki during her questioning!"

"... What the Hell are you talking about...? What are they talking about, Adachi?!" Dojima asked from his bed, sounding more confused than angry, but that's because Yu knew him. Yosuke, for an example, could say that the man was fuming, but that was not his focus at the moment.

"Exactly what you heard. It all makes sense after months... Naoto had been suspicious of him since the beginning, but we never believed her. Now all of the clues fall into place.

You see, Naoto had a list of suspects of her own since we knew her. Even I was one of them. With time, it narrowed down to just me, Namatame, our friend Teddie, and you, Adachi-san.

I could see why she doubted me and Teddie, but her case about you was the most detailed. I should have trusted her before... she had searched for all your activities in the police this year, and highlighted a few of them, including the ones Yosuke mentioned. Both victims were not seen exactly after those two incidents."

Adachi looked to be at a loss for words.

Without missing the chance, Yosuke kept the pressure up. "Dojima-san, what did he say to you after he questioned Saki," he asked.

"... He said he sent her home."

"Have you seen her since? Yes, you did, hung from a telephone pole."

Adachi's eyebrow lowered and lowered as he looked dismissively to the side.

"Also, have you heard news of Yamano since Adachi was sent to guard her?"

Dojima's eyes narrowed.

Adachi rolled his own.

"Come on, kids... it's not funny anymore," he said.

... "Huh?"

The detective didn't even turn towards the two to reply. "You say I disappeared with the two of them, and then they appeared hung upside down a few days later. I don't think I need to explain the rest... do you see how stupid this theory is?"

... Yu didn't recall ever hearing Adachi using the word stupid so seriously and openly. In fact, he'd never seen Adachi so... high and mighty.

But then again, the situation they were in was, at the very least, highly uncommon. One may discover new things about people when one accuses them of murder.

The detective finally turned towards them, with a surprisingly consistent poker face. "For one, you say I disappeared with Saki during her questioning, right? How was I supposed to hide her until it was time to hang her? Also, wasn't the cause of death unknown...? I'm not sure I can think of a way to kill a teenage girl with old age, or something. Don't even get me started on Mayumi..."

And then his face lightened up a little with the same concern he showed when he called the nurse. "Look, I know you are desperate because of all that's happened, but... whatever it is that Shirogane gathered... it doesn't hold up in the slightest. Go home, think for a while, take a break, okay. I promise we'll take care of this case." Adachi finished with a smile.

Yu saw Yosuke's face fall a bit.

What the Hell was he giving up for? Adachi was using Dojima-san to guilt trip him and it was working?

How good was he at playing dumb?

With that line of inquiry, no progress would be made that day.

Yu couldn't just let this slip between his fingers like everything else.

He then took a glance at the small TV at Dojima's bedside.

He had to do something.

"I'll show you how he did it," he said, before walking towards Adachi.

"What are you doing?" "Hey, come on, now..." the two older men said in unison as Yu approached.

He forcefully grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the TV.

"What are you doing, Narukami, stop it!" Adachi yelled as he tried to break free from Yu's grasp.

Following Yu's example, Yosuke broke free from his frustration and went to help push the detective's hand through the TV.

"What the Hell are you two doing, let me go!"

"You two, stop this right now!" Dojima thundered from his bed.

Yu was having trouble keeping his hand stable enough, but with Yosuke's help, it became an easier task. All he had to do was to pull closer...

Closer...

Clooser...

The hand finally touched the screen. Ripples started running across the glass.

Yeah! Just a little more, and...

Adachi used his free hand to push Yosuke's head away, and he eventually broke free. His body free, he twisted and pulled his wrist out of Yu's grip with all of his might, before shoving him forward.

Narukami tumbled and instinctively tried to use the TV as support, but his right arm went entirely through the screen, making him crash his chin against its frame.

Dojima's eyes were already wide when he saw the ripples. His scream of 'What the Hell' echoed through the whole hospital.

Meanwhile, Yosuke recovered and Adachi tried to break into a run out of the room. Furious, Hanamura tried to stop him with a tackle, but the man shouldered him aside and quickly slid the door open.

After breaking from his stun, Yu pulled his arm back and gave chase, almost bumping into the doctor, who was dumbfounded by the running detective scaring the life out of him. Yosuke followed soon after, eventually catching up to his partner.

Adachi ran through the double doors of the west ward first, opening them wide so they would almost slam on the two's faces.

They had to slow down their run a bit to not get hit by the swinging doors, but didn't lose sight of the detective as he passed by the front desk, going towards the east ward door.

Looking for a quick escape, he almost smirked when he saw one of the elevators with its door open. He quickly entered and pressed the button repeatedly to the third floor. The door was almost closed when he saw the kids. Narukami banged on the door once after it closed, but it was too late.

The two panted hard. Things just became a bit more difficult. Which floor would he leave at?

"Yosuke, check the second floor while I go to the third one. Quick, let's take the stairs!" He ordered. Yosuke nodded and followed the plan. They took the stairs and parted ways at the second floor while Yu kept going up.

Upon reaching the third floor, he caught a glimpse of Adachi rounding the corner.

... But that was...

Regardless, he gave chase, and when he made the same turn, he heard a door slam closed.

Why there...?

Following the sound, he ran and opened the door to Namatame's room...

Only to find ripples on the room's big screen.

He rushed and put his head inside of the TV, fully intending to jump in.

* * *

...

"You don't!" Chie snapped at Yosuke. "You don't know shit about how I feel... We're going to save Yukiko, and that's final!"

Yu could swear he heard her voice quiver as she spoke.

That somehow made him feel her resolve more than if she just said her line without stuttering.

That wasn't even anger...

He just couldn't say no to that. "Okay, but stay close to us," he replied.

And her face lightened up as she turned towards him. She was seemed happy to be given the chance to save her friend, but that didn't ease his worries in the slightest.

"Hah... I'll be fine. My reflexes are second to none," she tried to reassure him.

It didn't work.

...

...

Chie looked up at the huge castle. It's towers were so high, they could touch the black and red sky.

But she wasn't afraid of no castle. She was going to save Yukiko, no matter what. "I'm going on ahead," she said, without looking back at the two.

"Chie!" Yu and Yosuke yelled in unison as they rushed in behind her, Teddie following not very shortly behind.

...

...

"Dude... we're all dead worried, and we all wanna save her, but... we need a break, man. Who's gonna save her if we just keel ove-"

Yosuke was interrupted by a fist flying at his face. Already tired, he wasn't fast enough to dodge it and was sent staggering back. "What the Hell, man!"

"Who else can save her?! Will you own up if she stays here for too long?! Who knows, we might be too late already! She's up there with a serial killer, for god's sake and you're just thinking about yourself?!" Yu thundered.

How dare he be so egotistic when there lives on the freaking line?!

It made his skin crawl...

His disgust mixed with his anger twisted his face in a way he could not describe. He literally wanted to spit on Yosuke's face for even proposing that.

No one in the group had the energy to reply back to him.

"Huh?!" He continued with gritted teeth after seeing that Yosuke had no response. "Are you gonna bring her back if she dies?!"

No one spoke.

Just then he could look at everyone's faces.

They were exhausted. Not even Kanji could hold his chair up properly...

He felt his knees give out underneath him.

What was he doing...?

He ran a hand through his hair, then down his face before supporting himself with his hands on his knees.

"... Look guys, I'm sorry..." he said before outright falling back on his behind. He almost wanted to cry.

The thought of losing someone scared him.

They were what made him be. Losing any one of them meant losing a part of him... His power, his purpose... his everything.

... Even when protecting them, he was still thinking about himself.

Now who was the egotistic one?

It made his skin crawl...

More than that, it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

What made him raise his head once more was Yukiko's embrace. "Let's call it a day, guys," he heard her say as she helped him to his feet.

* * *

Yu halted.

It was like his vision widened back to its usual 180 degrees of reach. That shock made him aware of the things around him once more.

And that made him see the fog before him. He was staring into a void and couldn't see past anything. He never saw a fog so thick.

Was he about to jump in there... by himself?

What if there was no way out?

Would he survive? What would his back up plan be?

Who would end the case, if he failed?

Regardless... for the time being, he reached the end of the line.

He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and speed dialed Yosuke's number.

"Found him?!"

"Yeah... he's in the TV at Namatame's room." He just said before hanging up.

... Huh...

Yu was just glad Yosuke followed his bluff, back there. Thank God he was right...

Lucifer. He meant Lucifer.

* * *

**So, that was the chapter. Hope you enjoyed, review box below, even though no one's gonna touch it, Raidou the 16th, I approve this message. *thumbs up* Peace. **


	22. A Call To Arms

**Sup? Same old. On with it.**

* * *

Yu and Yosuke reunited in the first floor. They'd reached an unspoken consensus to gather everyone for this one last mission. If Lucifer was right, that was was going to be the end of everything.

Finally.

...

"Should we tell Dojima-san about this whole thing?" Yosuke asked.

Good question. Should they? He'd just seen his nephew's hand going through a TV.

Maybe, yes. Yu was thinking about waiting until everything was over to tell him everything, but now seemed to be the right time. He surely knew how much his uncle disliked misunderstanding things. The case was turned upside down in front of his eyes... months worth of cracking his head over an almost perfect crime.

If it was him in Dojima's shoes, Yu couldn't even imagine the shock of finding out just how far he was from saving his daughter. Just understanding that the situation was out of his hands and entrusting her to Narukami must have been painful enough...

He'd be driven mad by all that'd happened in that room.

Not to mention the fact that he worked with the killer this whole time.

All the reasoning he had, gone to waste due to how outlandish the whole situation was.

In the face of something so big, he must have felt so powerless... worthless. Yu knew just how painful that feeling was. To have your everything slip between your fingers, because you never even had the power to clench your fist. And damn, would he dig his own nails in his palm if he could to keep everything close.

Maybe he would crush all within his hands, but at least he'd keep what was his there, in his palm. He'd never let go.

But he never knew how. He'd never get the chance to see what might have been.

Yu subconsciously took a trembling fist to his mouth. God, that was...

Partially his fault, as well.

He had his eyes open, but really was staring at nothing.

Rather... at the far images of the ones he hurt by not being strong enough.

Maybe it wasn't just strength that he lacked. But what was it, then...?

... He knew all too well what Dojima felt.

Yosuke looked at his partner as he fell into his conscience and stared at the space before him. He was trying to understand, but couldn't even figure out where to begin. All he could do was put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yu..." he started, but was having trouble finding words. What to say...?

Come on, say something...!

The words refused to come to him, as much as he strained his mind, reminding him of his migraine.

Come on, what did you learn with him?! What would he say in your place?

Yu closed his eyes and lowered his head, as if closing a book and putting it down. He took a deep breath, momentarily putting the thoughts and images aside.

"... Thanks, Yosuke," he said, looking back with the best smile he could muster.

He meant it. Hanamura tried to reassure him, and he wanted his friend to know that it worked. He didn't need to say anymore.

Yosuke's concerned and desperate frown slowly eased into a neutral expression, then curved slightly upwards into a relieved half smile.

It'd been a while since he'd last done one of those.

"We can tell him later," Yu answered his previous question. "I'm pretty sure he's getting treated, right now, anyways... I doubt we'd be able to enter his room, now."

"Oh... okay, right," Yosuke stuttered a bit, before regaining his usual posture. "So, we call everyone, then?"

"Yeah. Let's get out here, first, though."

With a nod, Hanamura agreed and the two began making their way out of the east ward and to the front door.

Once through the door to the front desk, the secretary addressed them, gasping for air. "Finally... got to you two..." she said in between pants as the two turned towards her.

"What's the matter?" Yu asked.

"I'm the one who should be asking! What's with all that ruckus? Why were you and the detective running around, and where did he go?"

... Oh, crap...

"He tried to hide away my uncle's papers and ran away from us... I get that the guy was worried about us and didn't want to disclose my uncle's condition, but... he didn't need to do that, frankly. We lost him in the third floor... searched everywhere, but he got to the elevator first. I couldn't find him after that. He didn't let us near Dojima, either, so I don't know how he is... May I go see him, now," he asked, already expecting an answer. "I really wanna know how he is..."

"No, unfortunately. He's under care right now..."

He was right. Okay. "Please, just let me-"

"Yu, no," Yosuke said, tagging along. "It's best that you let them take care of him, dude. He'll be okay."

"... But I-"

"Let's go, man. You're tired. You'll be in the room next to him if you keep that up," sterner than before, Hanamura continued the lie.

Narukami clenched a fist, but ultimately hung his head. "...Alright..."

"Come on, dude," he said swinging an arm over his partner's shoulders. "Thanks, ma'am," he bowed to the secretary. He saw her nod shortly before he turned around and left with Yu.

Once out of the hospital, they released a sigh.

"Hoooly shit," Yosuke said as he let go of Yu. "That was close."

"Right? That won't give us a lot of time. They'll soon realize Adachi isn't there anymore. Let's get out of here."

The two hurried their steps away from the hospital and began making their way towards Junes.

'Guys, we need you all in the food court asap. We'll explain everything there.' Yu sent the same message to Chie, Yukiko, Kanji and Rise.

'Sure, I'm heading there,' was Chie's response.

'I'll be there as soon as I can', was Yukiko's response. Great! She would help! Yu had to bet, since he had not talked to her yet, but yeah!

'Will b there,' was Rise's reply.

Halfway there, and Kanji still hadn't replied.

... that got Yu slightly worried. And also reminded him of something. "Hey, man, let's take a detour through the shopping district. I gotta do some things there."

Albeit a little puzzled, Yosuke agreed, anyway.

The stroll continued quietly. Upon arriving, Yu turned towards him. "I need to buy some stuff. Could you go call Kanji in the meantime," he asked.

Hanamura still didn't exactly comprehend, but what could he say? Narukami probably had to do things such as buy weapons or get other personas, or whatever. He didn't see much reason not to do his partner this favor, so... "Sure."

"Thanks. See ya in a few." Just like that, Yu parted.

Time to go call Kanji, he guessed.

...

**-Tatsumi Textiles-**

...

"Excuse me, miss..." Yosuke said as he entered the store.

"Why, hello, Hanamura-kun," the kind shopkeeper answered.

"Is Kanji home? We need to talk too him."

"He's in his room, you may enter, if you want. But... he's been acting a little strangely, lately. It's been a while since he left his room for anything other than buying tofu and going to school, and even he got into this big fight a while back... Do you know what happened to him," she asked, concerned.

Big fight?

Oh, she must have been talking about that time when him and Yu fought some dudes in the district.

"We don't know exactly, but we're gonna find it out and fix it. That's our job, we're his friends... rest assured."

"Oh, thank you very much for the help. I don't like seeing him like that... so please. Cheer him up, if you can."

"I'll try, ma'am," Yosuke said, before excusing himself once more so he could enter the house behind the store.

...

Not even bothering to look around the house, Yosuke headed straight to Kanji's room. He apparently sat by the table in the middle of his room, caught up in some task. Probably knitting, or sewing something.

But he surely took a while to recognize Kanji.

His hair wasn't gelled back, as was usual. It was down, and even some black locks could be seen. Did he stop dying his hair?

"Excuse me... Kanji," he called out.

Tatsumi turned towards him. The sight of his face surprised Yosuke even more: he wasn't wearing any of his piercings or earrings. Instead, he was wearing glasses. Not the shades he was used to, though, but seemingly reading glasses. He also wasn't sewing, but instead he was apparently reading the school's English book.

"Oh. Hey, senpai." Kanji greeted him, not so energetically. "What's up?"

"I, uh..." Yosuke trailed off. Wow... Where were they this whole time? How much time had passed since they last seen him? Or did they even pay attention to the guy at all, in those last few weeks? Or in the last few months...? Really, seeing him like that was a surprise for him. Maybe only now he felt the difference. But it was baffling for him, nonetheless. "We need everyone at Junes, it's uh..."

Hanamura was really awestruck. How... when did he start looking smart?

"It's...?"

"It's very important," the brunette finished not as well as he'd like to, before taking a hand to his forehead. He caught himself, however, and ran the same hand through his hair to hide his headache.

Kanji looked to the side before standing up. He was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt Yosuke'd never seen before and some loose slacks. He walked towards his bed and picked up the white jacket which was lying on it before quickly throwing it on, not bothering to zip it up. "Well, let's go, then," he said while ruffling his hair.

... That was not him. Yosuke refused to believe that. "Hey, Kanji... You okay?"

"Huh? I'm normal... why do you ask?"

... Hanamura shook his head. He'd just have to get used to it. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Hm..." Kanji grunted dismissively before shrugging.

The two began heading out of the house, before Yosuke's phone rang.

'I'm done. Where are you,' was Yu's message to him.

'We're leaving the shop now.'

'I'm just outside. I'll wait for you two, we'll head to Junes together.'

Yosuke pocketed his phone, as they left the house and entered the store.

"Ma, I'm going out. Later," Kanji waved his mother goodbye. She waved back with a worried look before the two left the store.

Reaching the street, Yosuke didn't need to look too far to find Yu walking in their direction.

Upon catching up, Yu, didn't waste time looking at Kanji. "... Hey, man."

Tatsumi raised a hand to reply. "Yo."

"So, got what you wanted?" Yosuke asked Yu, who fished for something inside of of pocket.

It was a card. The card Alice left behind, to be more precise, only bluer than what he remembered.

"Oh. Awesome," Yosuke said without much enthusiasm, but he really thought that was awesome. Alice was strong as Hell, he was sure Yu could put her to some terrific use.

He was still blown away by the 'new' Kanji, though, who was also quieter than usual.

"Oh, and this, too." Yu said as he fished through his pockets for a small pack and handed it to Yosuke. "See if they work."

The brunette looked at it. Painkillers...

"Thanks."

Yu nodded. "Well, let's go, then."

Hanamura and Tatsumi nodded and began their walk.

...

**-Junes, Food Court-**

Yu and Kanji parted ways with Yosuke, who had gone to get some water. The two walked through the automatic door and found Rise sat at the usual table by herself. It looked like Chie and Yukiko hadn't arrived yet.

Narukami had yet to say a word to Kanji. He was far too different, and Yu had been accompanying his small changes, but... he still neglected him. He didn't talk to his underclassman about what was going on with him, so he felt obliged to begin then, but...

Where did he begin? Kanji didn't even look that fazed. In fact, he'd never the guy so calm. Even his posture had changed, he now looked taller than before.

"Something wrong, senpai?" Tatsumi questioned him.

... He must have been too caught up in his thoughts. "I'm okay," he answered with a nod as they reached the table. "Hey, Rise."

"Oh, hey guys." She turned to them with a smile. Kanji answered and greeted with a single nod. "Where are the others?"

"Yosuke is..." Yu was going to say that he was coming shortly and that he didn't know about the other girls, but he saw Hanamura and the girls walking through the door. "Oh, there they are."

His attention briefly turned to Yukiko, which caused him to take a subconsciously deep breath. You know the ones you get when the girl you like approaches right when you were thinking about her? Those, only for different reasons.

... Maybe not for different reasons. Or maybe Yu just thought about it in a way that sounded equal. Huh... he was having trouble with those words.

Could he be missing something else, entirely? If he was, he didn't know what it was...

But of course, that was the point of missing something.

He cast his eyes down slightly. What was that he was missing...?

No, he had to ask another question to get around th-

"Hello, Yu-kun."

He was knocked out of his thoughts by Yukiko's greeting. "Oh, hi," he responded quickly and absently with a stock answer, before realizing that he spoke over Chie's greeting.

Then he snapped out of his daze.

Damn, he was tripping far...

...

Okay, time to straighten up. That'd be the first time they'd actually talk since... then. More negligence from his part... He would shake his head at himself, if there weren't people around.

Focus, dammit!

He saw that everyone took their seats and plopped his own behind down, as well.

"Okay, it's time to explain some things..." Yu began.

That was gonna take a while...

...

...

During his speech, Yosuke added a few considerations and helped explain things. That gave time for Yu to pay attention to a few things.

Yukiko was wearing a black hairband instead of the usual red one.

Kanji's hair was not swept back. Rather, it was a bit ruffled.

Chie was sat farther from Yukiko than usual, but didn't seem to be showing anything negative towards her.

Yosuke would occasionally pinch the bridge of his nose. It seemed the pills didn't have a lot of effect on him.

Rise was neutral. She was serious. Even before the bombshell.

Which bombshell, you ask?

"What?!" "You can't be serious!" "Adachi?!" The girls exclaimed in unison. Kanji just raised an eyebrow.

That one.

And then they explained about the fog that began that settled down near noon.

The group put on their glasses and expressed their surprise. Except Kanji, again.

Sigh... what was going on?

Everyone was so different Yu's eyes...

Where was he, the whole time?

...

He knew where he'd been, but... still.

From the point of the fog onward, Yosuke took the lead of the speech, careful not to talk about Louis.

"So, the plan is simple, right? We jump in, kick his face and it'll all be over?" Chie spoke up.

Yu wished it wasn't, but... it really was.

And the simplicity itself made it seem like a difficult task. Would just defeating Adachi lift the fog? Would everything just... end?

He trusted Lucifer, and thus far he was right. He'd trust him until the end of this matter. He already made the bet, might as well go all in.

...

What the fuck did he just think...?

But frankly... out there as it was, it was true.

"Yeah. We're finally at the end." Yosuke said with a nod.

"I wish I could say we have time to prepare, but... we don't know how long we have until this fog starts causing problems... so I wanna ask: are you all ready? Whatever it is you need to do, let's do it quickly."

Right then, he remembered that Kanji had broken shield previously. "Oh yeah, you need a weapon, Kanji..."

The guy just then looked at Yu and shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. I got it covered."

... Huh.

Okay... "Anyone else? Yukiko, Chie, anything?"

Chie seemed to be very excited. At least she seemed to be when she shook her head. Yukiko was calmer when she declined.

... Too many things to pay attention to at once. Yu's mind was already starting to lose gas before they even got to their mission.

Better focus, then.

"Alright. Let's go, guys."

* * *

**Welp, done. Things should start heating up next chapter, which I suspect will be kinda long. So... yeah. Not sure if you care, but review box below. It's dusty. Look at it, all sad and lonely. Raidou the 16th, I approve this message. *thumbs up* Later.**


	23. Twist Of Fate: Priestess

**Sup. I, uh... *scratches back of the head* I said things were gonna kick off last chapter, but then I read the script for this fic (yes, it has a script). It's time for one of those chapters again, so... sorry for false advertising. It's next chapter that things start happening *points at script* see? No, you don't. :T But trust me. Or not. I dunno. I just hope you enjoy the fic. And disclaimers. On with it.**

* * *

**-Yasogami High, Classroom-**

Yukiko faltered forward a bit as she felt someone colliding with her on their way.

Ugh... what was she thinking, standing around near the door like that.

She turned towards the person, expecting to say that she was sorry with a smile...

Until the sight of Yu turned off her capability of giving any automatic apology. Or any answer, for that matter.

God, he was...

She broke out of his stupor for a second to analyze his face. It visible, she didn't need to zoom in his face with a microscope to notice he had been sleepless, or sleeping very badly. And for him to reach that level... he must have been very, very tired.

Or very, very lonely.

Her eyes then met his. He always had that certain glow to his eyes... like it was a sign that he was there. Seeing that glow, she could feel his presence. At that moment, though, it wasn't there.

And she managed to get a glimpse of her own reflection in his eyes. The way he looked reminded her a lot of her own image, only she was wearing make up...

Which barely covered dark rings under her own eyes.

Looking at herself, she almost couldn't feel her own presence.

Yukiko opened her mouth a little, as if she had a small spasm, then she glanced around before excusing herself and hurrying on ahead.

She still had her doubts about him, but... beyond her doubts was the knowledge that she'd probably do worse in his place. The thing was that she needed to think hard to put herself in his shoes for a second, even though she was quite close. Or maybe the distance was longer than she imagined...?

See? She hadn't thought for long enough. She didn't understand his situation.

And that was what made her stay away from him: fear of a mistake she didn't know the consequences of.

Being raised in a family which ran the biggest inn perhaps in the whole region, she was constantly pushed to analyse well many possible scenarios, for the whole region was in the map because of the inn they ran. Every decision was crucial, every detail needed attention. As much as she didn't want that kind of pressure upon her, she lived with it her whole life and learned from that.

Imagine running the risk of losing not only the one you love, but much else that you couldn't even account for.

What also made her think that her fear was also played a role in his loneliness.

No demon kept her awake her at night better than that doubt of hers.

...

...

Classes in the day after that passed slowly. She couldn't even pay attention to all the classes, but she did manage to note everything down. She'd have to give her notebook a read or two later to assimilate everything. With a sigh, she began to pack her things and got up.

"How about we get everyone together, then? Yukiko," she heard Yu call out to her. She turned around almost automatically. "We're going to Junes. Do you want come along?"

"Sorry, I'll pass. Things are pretty busy now at the inn, so... I'll be going," she replied with a stock answer. At least those were coming back to her, after the day before.

But was that really a good thing?

"Okay, then... later," she heard Yu and Yosuke said the last word in unison as she left.

As soon as she got out of the classroom, she felt her cellphone vibrate.

'Why don't you come with us? I know you have time today...' Chie had sent her a message.

'I still have to think...' she answered before pocketing her phone.

She really did have time in her hands that day. Her mother and her sensei had seen how tired she was and gave her a few days to try and rest up, a very kind move on their part. She was reluctant to accept the little vacation, but she couldn't possibly keep going like that. She'd probably end up making things worse, at least that was what her mother told her.

Already having planned what she'd do for that day, she headed for the shopping district to buy some tofu from Marukyu. Rise's mother was kind as usual, but also expressed her concerns about Rise, who had been going out a lot lately.

And it was true. Yukiko hadn't seen a lot of Rise in those last few days. She told the lady so with an apology, paid for her tofu and left for her usual place.

...

...

**-Samegawa Floodplains-**

Yukiko sat on the bank by the side of the road. She opened the box and began eating.

You know... eating alone in a quiet place like that, without a care in the world was priceless.

Too bad she did have a care or two in the world, and not even her tofu could make her forget about them, that day.

She stopped eating halfway through and cast her eyes down for a while.

The way Yu called out to her... he'd never sounded like that before. If anything, she thought he was kind of desperate for company...

She wondered if she should have went along.

He was just as much of a victim of the losses as everyone... Perhaps even more.

Maybe much more. She couldn't fathom how she could live without someone close to her like Nanako was to him.

Really, just the thought frightened her.

And Dojima-san was in the hospital, as well. Every night must have been Hell for him... she knew it'd be, for her.

If she didn't have anyone to give her a purpose, she'd be driven mad. what would she do? What would she be good for?

... But he caused Naoto to be lonely...

... But didn't they all?

Why was she so desperate for an excuse to stay away from him, when he needed her the most?

Was it because she was suffering, as well? Was it because she needed time to mourn for the losses, as well? Was it because she needed a break? From what? His company? The battles, the struggles? The pressure?

Where would she run to, if she didn't have that?

... Where was she running to, at that moment?

Question came and went in her head, overloading her mind and clouding her thoughts. Good at multitasking as she was, she couldn't handle a hundred questions at once.

She felt as if she was being interviewed again.

Where was Yu to save her from those again?

She tried to smother her thoughts with one more bite of tofu, but it didn't work. That just made her lose her appetite.

With a sigh, she looked to the side.

And saw Chie coming in the distance.

She tilted her head slightly. What was she doing there at that time of the day? She must have finished hanging out with the guys, but...

"Hey, Yukiko!" The girl greeted. "Did you turn off your phone or something? You didn't answer a single message this whole time, I was getting worried... I'm glad I found you here."

... Did she?

She took her phone... holy... that was a lot of messages. She didn't even see them coming.

Was her mind really that far away.

Chie looked at her with more concern than usual. "Hey... you know you can tell me, right?"

Yukiko looked away, but not because she wasn't going to tell what was on her mind. She was just finding trouble picking a place to start.

"Is it about Yu?" Chie asked.

"... Not only about him, but... I don't know. I'm so afraid... don't know what to do..."

"Well... what do you want to do?"

"I want to know how I can go on... I don't want to trust blindly, but..."

"I know... you love him, right?"

Yukiko just nodded.

"You know..." Chie began. "I said something cool yesterday, and it reminded me of you. Remember what you always tell me when I'm failing at the exams?"

... hm?

"Yosuke came to me yesterday and explained to me a few things. He said he was sorry," she smiled. "The nerve! After scaring the crap outta me in that room, he comes talk to me?"

... huh? "What did you say to him, then?"

"He... we were and still are going through the same thing. We were weak. We lost people because we were weak... I was bold enough to slap him across the face then, but not smart enough to do anything about it. We're all at fault... but even when we're guilty, and even when we lose one of us... we can't allow ourselves to be alone. We're all we have... after all, every one of us have seen each other at their weakest.

Anyway, he said he didn't do something that could be easily forgiven. And then I said 'just because it isn't easy, doesn't mean that it's impossible'. Haha, I felt so awesome, for a change.

Even if you don't know what to do, we can find a purpose when we're together. Don't be afraid. And please, don't forget that we'll be there for you... please," she said.

Yukiko saw her eyes sparkle a bit. She was truly hanging on to that.

"I'll remember that because you told me to, so... I also want you to remember that. I know it may be hard for you, but it isn't impossible. We only hurt each other when we fall apart, and we just can't let that happen. Right?" Her friend finished.

... Yeah, she was right. She made every bit of sense.

... God, that made so much sense.

Everyone was hurting by themselves... all that happened was because they were alone.

They hadn't stayed together to reach an answer.

They'd left Naoto to herself.

They'd left Teddie to himself. He must have been in so much pain, all alone, wherever he was...

Yosuke was left to himself, which allowed his anger to take control.

Rise must have felt lonely, as well, for her to leave her grandmother so worried.

Kanji was Naoto's best friend... not much needed to be said.

Yu was left alone after all of that.

Yukiko's own fears made her stay away from everyone...

They had to remember that while they were together, nothing could beat them. As much she was hurting at the moment, or as much as the whole group was hurting, even at each other's fault, they had to stay together.

"... Right. Thank you, Chie." Yukiko offered her friend a true smile. One that made her feel something she hadn't in a while.

She'd heard before that when you smile, even if you aren't happy, your mind will understand that you are and send a similar pleasure to your body. Perhaps she'd just felt that in action that moment.

Or she was really happy about having one of her doubts cleared by her best friend. It was hard to tell.

... Nah. It wasn't.

Chie then proceeded to hug her with a quick, but sincere laugh. "Don't mention it," she said as Yukiko returned the embrace with a sigh of relief, as if she'd just healed from a paralysis and got up from a wheelchair.

She'd never be able to express how invaluable she was to her.

...

...

**-Amagi Inn-**

Another day...

The thought came and went like a street light viewed from a moving car.

But surely not as insignificant.

It was a Sunday... she didn't need to study that day. The extra sleep was beauty on her skin... she felt so well after a full night of rest, she felt like doing something right then.

But what?

She'd have time to think while she dressed up.

And she did, leaving her new, black hairband for last.

See? That wasn't just another day. That was a day in which she remembered her purpose. A day when she felt sorry for her weakness. A day when she had to do something.

A day when she was alive.

No day was just another day for her, anymore. Not as long as she had people that made her be.

After tying the hairband, she looked at herself in the mirror and laughed at her thoughts.

Sleep did her far too well... So well, she was even getting all philosophical.

A message made her phone vibrate.

'Guys, we need you all in the food court asap. We'll explain everything there.'

What could that be about...? The case?

... Regardless, she needed to be there. As she'd learned, it wasn't time for doubts.

'I'll be there as soon as I can,' she quickly typed before pressing the send button.

And then she found something to do.

...

* * *

**Well, that's done. Again, sorry. ¬¬ Also, this got a review. \o/ Thank you, man. I hope I can keep it up and that writer's block doesn't hit me too hard again. Anyway, review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th and I approve this message. *thumbs up* Later. **


	24. Seek and Destroy

**Sup. Same old. Enjoy! o/**

* * *

Yu was the last one to step through the TV. The fog was much thicker than usual. Just a few seconds without his glasses were enough to make him feel a little dizzy. After shaking his head, he whipped out the pair and put them over his his eyes, immediately clearing his vision.

That didn't stop him from feeling the chill, though.

Looking around, he noticed his friends were also feeling the cold.

Regardless, that was no time to complain about the weather in a different world.

"Rise, can you track Adachi down?" Yu asked, as he reached for the chest by the entrance and grabbed his katana from inside. Yosuke was also coming, so he passed the guy his knives as well.

"On it." The girl said before closing her eyes and concentrating. Seconds after, her persona was called upon and she began searching.

That gave Yu the cue to inspect his companions a bit further.

Chie was getting fired up, hopping from side to side and practicing some side kicks.

Yukiko was playing around with her card, watching closely as it twirled above her fan, and then her palm and she kept examining it.

Kanji had his hands inside the pockets of his jacket and didn't seem bothered by anything.

"Hey, Yosuke," Yu beckoned to his already close by partner. The brunette turned to him. "Did you manage to catch a glimpse of what's going on with Kanji...?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, you mean how he's all... I dunno..."

"Yeah, but..." Yu thought for a brief moment. He guessed that was a time to change, yeah. Perhaps he was just baffled because he didn't realize that people changed due to being too caught up in himself. Maybe he didn't notice himself change.

... He did, actually. But he tried to fight against his change. He couldn't allow himself to be so stoic and numb as he figured he was becoming.

Did he win? Who knows.

... Yeah, maybe he didn't notice himself changing, after all. "Never mind."

Yosuke looked at his friend for a while before letting go of the matter.

"Guys! I found Teddie!" Rise exclaimed from where she stood.

The whole party turned towards her. The exclamations of 'what' and surprised gasps were simultaneous.

"I don't know exactly where he is, but I can feel him! We should go towards that direction and- Agh!"

Her sudden shriek pierced the ears of the party. The girl clutched her head and forcefully dismissed her persona.

Chie and Kanji were the ones to rush to her aid. "Rise!" "What happened?"

"It's... Adachi... I found him... he found me," she said as she released her head, let her arms fall to her side and took a deep breath.

The two helped her up to her feet and let the girl have some air. "I saw him in a room... a room like the ones at the Amagi Inn, only with a chair, a noose hanging from the ceiling and several cut up posters..."

Wait.

"... Which is in the same direction as Teddie's location."

...

Shit.

Everyone halted for a while.

Yosuke was the first to speak up. "Me, uhh... Me, Chie and Yu have been there before. We know where it is." Chie heard this, snapped out of her daze and nodded.

Yu also nodded, before speaking up. "We don't have time to waste. Everyone ready? Rise, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she replied, and at the same time the group answered affirmatively to Yu's question.

"Let's go!"

...

...

The short, silent walk soon turned into a run as we noticed the flight of stairs leading up to that room we knew well. Yosuke eventually took the lead of the group and launched himself shoulder first at the door, which was not even locked. The door swung back and slammed on the wall, as the group made their way inside of the room.

They all turned towards the man who was standing alone, facing the curtain. He scratched the back of his head before turning around. "Geez... don't you guys know how to knock?"

"Adachi...!" Yu began, but didn't know how to continue. He had so much to say, he ended up losing his turn to speak.

"So you're the one behind all of this!" Kanji took a step forward.

"Isn't it obvious, now? Shouldn't you be wasting your breath on something else, like calling for help, or something? You're likely going to need it." Adachi said with a grin.

"Quit fucking around! We're taking you back and you're getting locked in for life!" Kanji continued.

Rise narrowed her eyes at Adachi before Kanji rushed at the man. She then opened her mouth to speak, but it was too late.

"Kanji, no, that's a-" she tried to warn, but Tatsumi was already swinging at the man's face...

Only for him to blink out of sight.

"Fake..." Rise finished.

"You really think I'd confront you there, just like that? You kids wouldn't know fun if it bit you in the ass, would you?" Adachi taunted, his voice coming seemingly from nowhere.

"Look, I don't give a crap how you end up. Your world is doomed, anyway."

...?!

"So, while I wait for that to happen, why don't we play a game?"

As he finished his question, wall began to suck itself in, until only a hole with the black and red vortex in its place. "You want to meet your little friend, right? Well, he's over there. If you find him, you can keep him. You just have to step in and look for him."

Chie almost couldn't contain herself and began stomping forward. How dare that stupid, freaking... Son of a-

Yukiko held her shoulders. When the brunette turned around, Amagi just shook her head, concern on her face.

"Dammit... dammit..." Kanji was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists bloodless.

Yosuke was also enraged beyond belief, but was more contained. He had so much to say, so many things floating around in his brain that his headache just intensified. Even though he knew they wouldn't work a lot, he took a painkiller again and downed it only with his saliva to push it down. The time he spent trying to swallow the pill actually freshened his mind the slightest bit, just enough for to begin thinking straight again.

Yu walked over to Kanji to try and calm him down, but for the first time ever, he didn't know how. In fact, he didn't even know how to approach the guy. He had to resort to his standard leadership tone. "We won't get anywhere if we rush in without a plan."

Kanji simply nodded, staring angrily at the red vortex. "I know!" He responded without even looking at the leader. "We go in and get Teddie first, careful of any trap that bastard might have put up, then we regroup on the spot, cause he'll likely do something to trap us there, and then we push through and corner that son of a bitch. We brought everything we need, no need to hold back any longer. Let's go, already!"

Everyone stared at Kanji.

What the Hell was going on with him.

Narukami narrowed his eyes at the side of his head, since he was still staring into the vortex.

That... that was the plan. Sure, no battle tactics we mentioned, but... that was the plan.

... Now was definitely not the time to discuss that.

He turned towards the group. "Everyone ready?"

People nodded, Yosuke replying with just a second of delay.

"Okay. Let's go!"

...

...

The door slammed open.

"So... Did you find him?" Lucifer didn't even greet Catherine as she reentered the Sanctuary.

"Yes..." she said, casting yet another spell to heal herself.

"And... where is he?"

"He escaped..."

"He escaped?!" The demon then turned towards her. "How?!" He blared. How in the heaven did that go wrong?!

"I tried to overpower him, but he just would not stop, no matter what I did...! He went into that other world. I didn't give chase, I don't know how that world works... He was drawn towards the masked ones, just like the word you spread, but..."

Cyphre couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He simply sat down and let that sink in.

All that time and effort, only for it to majorly backfire at his plan.

... funny how even he could complain about time, something that had been meaningless for him and his kingdom before this crisis began.

Was he starting to become more human, without his demonic side?

Perhaps.

Regardless... All things considered, Catherine made the right choice, from her perspective. It'd be worse if he lost her, as well.

All he could do at the moment was sit and wait.

...

* * *

**Done! Critics and opinions below, Raidou Here, I approve this message. *thumbs up***


	25. Monster At The End

**Sup? Chaos Within is back. And it's not playing around. This is where it all starts going downhill for good. Ready for the downward spiral up ahead? If you are, read on. You might be in for a treat... Usual disclaimers. On with the chapter. **

* * *

Yosuke was the last one to go through the vortex and set sights on the bizarre scenery.

Asphalt stretched far on a road in front of him and everyone else, broken pieces of... everything by their sides, and a red and black sky above. Bent 'stop' and danger signs, twisted street lights, broken bottles engraved on the pieces of concrete, random walls of rubble reached up and curved themselves over the group.

There was also the blackened landscape of a city far in the horizon. In fact... that city was Inaba.

Huh...

"Welcome to your grave, kids!" A voice echoed from above. "Hope you enjoy your stay, cause this is how the whole world will be after a while. Talk to you all soon." It was Adachi, mocking them from wherever he was. He said his piece in an eerily cheerful tone.

"Get down here and fight me, you piece of shit!" Kanji yelled back towards the sky.

"Oh, doth the little punk protest too much?" Adachi answered with a laugh from wherever he was. "At ease rascal, you'll get your cookie soon."

Yosuke was about to say some words, himself, but then he looked at Kanji.

The guy was frivolous. Absolutely livid.

His face was red, he was about to explode...

Yosuke was about to make a run for him and stop him from doing anything stupid, but then Kanji stopped shaking and took a deep breath.

Then he lowered his shoulders and exhaled. "Alright." He said calmly. "I'm not letting him get under my skin."

It was like he was talking to himself.

But more importantly... did he just calm down?

Did Kanji just calm down right before their eyes?!

Yosuke didn't say those words, but the way he looked at Yu surely passed the question across.

Narukami looked back at him and almost raised his shoulders as if to say 'I dunno what the Hell happened, either.'

Neither of the two paid much attention to the girls, which was kind of impressive, given how red Chie was, as well. But Yukiko and Rise had her back, so all was relatively well.

Emphasis on the 'relatively'.

Yu finally shook his head and breathed before raising his voice. "Let's get going guys, don't pay him any mind."

Everyone looked at him and nodded before recomposing themselves.

Narukami then slapped his forehead harder than he should have. "Actually, before we go anywhere, Rise, can you scan the floor ahead...? Sorry, almost forgot."

Rise looked at him and smiled. "It's okay, we're all livid. Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot, too." She said, before calling her persona upon.

"Hey, before you do that..." Adachi's voice echoed again. Everyone looked up for whatever reason. "Don't bother, girl. There are no Shadows in this floor, I can tell you that much. On the next floor, however, there's a surprise waiting for you. See how nice I am?"

... Was that true...?

... "Don't listen to him, Rise, just scan the floor, anyway." Yosuke told her, to which Yu nodded.

The girl looked at the two before calling her persona upon, again. She closed her eyes and concentrated before...

"Agh!" She shrieked. Her persona shattered to pieces as she lost her concentration and fell flat on her behind, breathing heavily.

"Rise!" Everyone yelled, but Kanji was the first to rush and help her to her feet.

"Hahahahaha! Oh, my God, that was hilarious! I've been dying to catch someone with that since my little cousin years back! Are you sure you're in high school, girl?! Hahahahahah!" Adachi's laughter rang throughout the place, merrily as it was infuriating.

Yu rushed to her side, as well. "What happened?!"

"That bastard... he scared me half to death while I was scanning the floor!" Rise complained, before putting a hand to her forehead. "He almost blasted my eardrums, too... ouch..."

Yosuke was the one to approach next and offered her a painkiller pill. She looked at him funny, but eventually accepted it with a nod. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem. Can we just go, now...?" Hanamura asked everyone, and and consensus was reached. They began their stroll forward, as Yosuke, himself, took another pill.

His headache still didn't let up...

...

...

Adachi seemed to have spoken the truth. The first floor didn't have any Shadows.

That didn't ease the tension for the group, though. The silence which accompanied their careful walk was so heavy and dense, it was hard for anyone to keep their chin up.

It probably didn't help that they felt like they were being watched every time. And they most likely were: Adachi could be monitoring their every step, as far as they knew.

Yu looked around and noticed that his friends were also wary of their surroundings. They only moments they raised their chins above their chests' height was to scan the area around them.

But what interested him the most when he looked around at his companions was the fact that, despite all that's happened, they were somewhat together again. The way they looked around was more or less coordinated: no one looked towards the same direction. That meant they wordlessly acknowledged each other's presence, and no one was trapped in their own little world, or was worried only about their own safety.

Or maybe that was just one of those times where Yu read too much into the situation.

... He would like very much to believe his read, though.

The group finally arrived to what seemed to be another portal, like the one in the entrance. Rise confirmed it to be the gateway to the next floor without even summoning her persona. Without thinking too much, but bracing themselves for anything, they stepped through the portal into the next floor.

The road was pretty straight forward, stretching under the group in a single line that was far from hard to follow, until they reached a plain of sorts. It stretched far and wide, but some holes on the ground were visible. Scattered sparsely, in all sizes... and apparently bottomless.

Although the holes were far apart from each other, the group walk carefully along the floor lest anyone fell.

Yu was left to wonder what was the surprise Adachi talked about. It could have just been a plan to keep them on the edge... then again, it could e anything. Based on the little he knew, anything could be expected.

Another thing that kept going back and forth in his mind was the fact that Rise sensed Teddie was there. It didn't make any sense. He was gone. How did he...

"Teddie!" He heard Kanji yell, snapping him out of his thoughts.

What?!

"Teddie?!" Yu, himself shouted in disbelief as he looked for the round bear in the landscape. Indeed, there was a figure approaching. Kanji was a bit ahead of them, so maybe he had a clearer view of whoever that was, although with that shape, it was pretty hard not to say it was Teddie.

"Teddie, is that you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Chie said, taking a subconscious step forward.

Yosuke opened a smile, but then looked at Yu's face, which raised some questions in his head. But those could wait. Teddie was finally there. Holy Hell, it'd been a while since he'd seen the little bastard. "Come on, let's go home, you idiot!" He said.

Walking ever closer, the round figure was indeed Teddie, but something was strange.

For one, his bear form now had claws and what seemed to be fangs. And the most alerting of all...

Big... round, unblinking and bright yellow eyes.

"... Is this thing on...?"

The group heard Adachi's voices from above.

"Ehem... Ladies and gentlemen! For the evening's main event, I present you... the abomination versus the group of misfits! Let's see how the kids fare against their monster of a former friend! Will they fight? Or will they cry themselves to death? Buckle up, cause this is gonna be a wild ride!" His speech ended with a laugh.

It pissed Kanji off to no end. He literally bit his own lip open and swallowed down his own flowing blood. His face also reddened like it never did before and his fists clenched bloodless white.

Yu didn't think he was going to calm down, that time.

Rather, he was the one who should have been calming down and thinking.

It was time to cut the losses and step up. His first step forward already triggered a huge wave of remorse that washed over his mind, but he couldn't allow himself to be swayed.

Shaking his thoughts aside, he stood in front of Kanji as Teddie continued to approach and brandished his katana.

Everyone lost it at that point.

"Senpai?!" "What are you doing?!" "Yu?!" "What the Hell?!" Were the yells that echoed around and bounced off his ears. He couldn't really listen to them, that moment.

"Get ready, everyone," was what he said to them, without looking back. "Rise, you stay back."

"But..." The idol began to protest, but as the bear approached in his stroll, she could feel something wrong without needing to summon her persona. In fact, she was pretty sure everyone else could feel that too.

Teddie was indeed dangerous, as much as people would like to believe otherwise.

Regretful, she acknowledged that fact, lowering her head and running to the back line.

"Rise, no! We won't fight him!" Yukiko reached for her, but Rise refused to answer. When she turned back, she couldn't help but run her eyes at Chie, who was confused to frustration. She couldn't understand what was going on.

Kanji, however, didn't take long to join Yu in the front. He didn't understand a lot of what was going on yet, but he aware that Yu knew exactly what was up. Without questioning yet, he followed his action and stood on guard.

Yosuke was the one who couldn't believe it, though.

No way in Hell he was gonna believe that Teddie would hurt them.

So, he stayed a while in the TV world to find himself and found out he was a Shadow, maybe. Fine. That didn't mean he wasn't gonna take the kid back home and scold him for making him so damn worried. No matter what he was, he still had to work and pay for the expensive suit he was always wearing.

Hanamura was about to grab onto Yu's shoulder to turn him around and ask some questions, when he saw saw his partner skid back. He had just blocked a lightning quick charge.

Narukami just barely turned his face to speak to his friend. "Raise your guard." He demanded. His unwavering tone was a harsh blow to his confidence in Teddie's return.

In fact, an almost killing blow.

His face fell instantly as the round figure rebounded and joined its claws before its own eyes, before bringing them down.

Yosuke didn't understand it at first, but when he felt the temperature drop around him, his instincts told him to roll to the side, avoiding the ice spikes that were about to rain on him.

By that point, Chie had also snapped out of her surprise. She took her fighting stance, but without hopping around as she was used to. Her feet were planted on the ground and her guard was very high.

Yukiko couldn't see her face very well, but she could imagine why she took that stance. She still didn't brace herself, though.

Teddie set his eyes on Amagi, who seemed the closer of the easiest preys and broke into a quick dash, far faster than his short stubby legs seemed to allow him to. With her in his sights, he tried to dash past everyone to get to her...

But there was a Kanji in the way.

With a shoulder tackle, he knocked the bear out of his track.

Upon recovering, Tatsumi looked over at both Yukiko and Yosuke.

"Look alive, dammit! He ain't done by a long shot!" He said, setting his eyes on Teddie once more.

"Izanagi!" Tatsumi heard from behind himself. A bolt of lightning rained down on the bear, but with a swift hop to the side, he dodged the danger and replied by shooting multiple ice shards from his claws at high speed, still aiming at Yukiko.

This time, however, Chie finally sprung into motion and stood before her friend to block the ice coming her way.

The Shadow stared at the group once more, seemingly unsure about what to do next.

That gave them the split second they needed to breathe, and that Yu needed to think.

"Chie, stay behind us and Kanji and defend Yukiko! Yukiko, only attack when you're safe! Me and Kanji will take the front!" Yu gave the orders, but he felt that regardless, that was what was going to happen.

"Yosuke!"

Narukami's roar snapped the brunette out of his thoughts.

"Come with us!" The leader continued. "We'll need speed for this."

Hanamura took a second to answer, but eventually nodded, readying his card.

With one last growl, Teddie charged forward towards the group, again.

...

* * *

***headbangs* Am I Eviiiil?! Yes, I am! Am I Eviiiiil?! I Am, man! Yes, I am! Behold this cliffhanger! Critics and opinions in the review box below, I am Raidou the 16th and I approve this message. *thumbs up* See you next chapter. **

**Actually, let me advertise some stuff: Alone In The World, by Changling96, and Bloodlust/Fallen Messiah, by Nightly 7. All of those are on fire. Well, now I'll take my leave. Peace!**


	26. Into The Void

Yu relaxed his facial features and forced the air out of his lungs to relax himself a little. His gaze was still focused on the bear like creature, but he couldn't allow himself to stop paying attention to his friends. Feeling the boost in speed, he narrowed his eyes slightly and tried to focus to predict Teddie's movement.

When his yellow eyes shifted to Kanji during his run, Yu had little time to react. He swung his blade to try and counter his run, but the bear jumped over his strike, which left Narukami flabbergasted.

What?!

To top it off, Teddie came down with its claws aimed at Tatsumi, who didn't have a shield.

The guy hopped back as quickly as possible, however, and avoided the dangerous strike.

Teddie then rebounded from the missed attempt and launched himself at the bleach haired male, relentless.

Kanji growled and stomp kicked the Shadow in the face before it could get within striking distance. The strike pushed the bear back, but the damage just seemed to bounce off his hide as he stood up again and froze his own claws to shoot needles of ice towards the teen, who had no choice but to cross his arms in front of himself to block the incoming hazard. The ice pierced his arms and drew blood, but he bit back the pain without even a yelp.

"Yosuke!" Yu had to roar to snap Hanamura out of his trance again. The brunette shakily held the gaze of his leader and tried to speak but...

It just wasn't working, he couldn't focus at all.

There was way too much in his mind, at that moment.

"Tch," Narukami shook his head. That was of no use.

Taking a solid grip around the hilt of his sword, the wild card sped towards the two as the rest watched on with concern and surprise.

As he approached the bear, it suddenly shifted its focus to him. Not even waiting for the leader to close the distance, Teddie rushed towards him, demanding Yu to block more icicles with his sword, and halting his offensive advance.

Unable to stop, the bear followed and slashed at Narukami, who had to be even quicker than before to block. It was ferocious...

Losing ground to its pressure, Yu stepped back, being forced to block its countless gelid barrage slashes.

...

...

Yosuke stared at the scene, still shaken in disbelief. Each second make a bigger dent in his concentration.

What the Hell was happening?!

Yu?!

Yu!

Could he please provide some sort of answer to that?!

... Wait.

Maybe that was not Teddie, but his Shadow! That must have been the only explanation why Yu wasn't hesitating. Kanji must have caught on that, too. Hell, the yellow eyes were a dead giveaway, how could he have not noticed that before? Teddie was somewhere around there, denying his Shadow! Of course! Maybe he found something out about himself that he doesn't want to come clean about!

The worry was all in his head... Adachi had played them just right...

Alright! He now knew just what to do!

Summoning Susano-O's card, he readied his knives. He took a good look at the Shadow rushing Yu down before shifting his eyes to Kanji, who was making a dash to the leader's aid, as he grit his teeth to endure his headache.

...

No time for doubts. Pausing to think has gotten people killed before. Enough hesitation!

...

...

Kanji felt the presence of Hanamura's persona.

Did he finally snap out of it?

... Wait. If he did, then...

Tatsumi stopped running and took a step back.

...

...

"Garudyne!" Yu heard from Yosuke's position.

... Oh shit!

Vayu!

He could hear the distinctive click in his head before the twister raised itself beneath both him and Teddie, who was sent crashing back, but bounced right back up.

"Rise, scan that thing!" Yosuke roared. "I refuse to believe that's the real Teddie!"

Everyone looked at him.

"This is just his Shadow! The real one must be somewhere else, denying his Shadow! That could even be a fake, for all we know... Adachi just wants us to believe it's the real thing!" He shouted to the group.

The girls looked at him with mouths ajar with realization.

Kanji didn't pay him any mind. He knew that from the beginning.

Yu simply looked at him with a blank face.

He didn't know what to make out of that. And he didn't have time to think, either.

In fact... he didn't have the time to care.

...

...

"Hahahahahah! How dumb can these kids get?!" Adachi wiped a tear, before noticing the idol readying her persona.

Nope. Couldn't have that.

"Not on my watch, you won't!" He said, his eyes flashing multiple colors.

He wasn't about to let his fun come to an end.

...

...

Rise summoned her persona, but all she could see was fog, and all she could her was static and white noise. She could see no farther than her feet from her Kanzeon's lenses.

"It's no use... Adachi is blocking my senses!" Rise exclaimed, frustrated. How was he doing that...?!

"... He doesn't want us to find that out, huh?" Yosuke mused aloud. "He knows we're onto him!"

Teddie ran its eyes frantically on the group, searching for another target, before opening the zipper of its costume, revealing the emptiness inside of him. It was as if the darkness inside shone brightly... dark...

Yu narrowed his eyes at that, before turning around to look at everyone, quickly as possible.

...

"Chie, move!" He demanded.

The girl looked underneath herself, to see a dark hole growing on the ground beneath her.

She wasn't quickly enough to stop it from swallowing her left foot...

And pulling her whole leg in.

The force almost made her hit her chin on her right knee. She shrieked, first with surprise, then with terror, before shifting to pain.

It felt like her leg was going to be severed from her!

"Chie!" Yukiko, who was right behind her, grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up. Yosuke also set himself into motion to help her cause, while Kanji widened his eyes before powering himself up with a Tarukaja and running towards her, as well.

Yu kept his eyes trained on Teddie, though, who was literally draining the light around himself.

He didn't understand what was happening, but he was obliged to do something.

...

...

Chie continued to scream, as the three made a huge effort to pull her up, to no avail. The hole's suction was almost winning the girl over.

What the Hell was that?!

The rupture eventually grew bigger and sucked her right leg in, as well, which in turn almost made the three fall into the hole along with her.

"Come ooon!" Kanji yelled through gritted teeth. Even with his strength, it was taking every bit of his energy to keep the girl from slipping away. Same could be said for the other two.

...

...

Yu readied Izanagi in his mind. "Ziodyne!" He called the creator god to make lightning rain on the open bear. It struck true, striking the monster straight into its void. It gave out a horrendous, distorted cry as it flinched, as if the the bolt had literally struck a nerve in it.

...

...

The hole suddenly stopped sucking Chie in, which left the group as the only force acting upon her besides gravity. She was pulled back and, without any balance, fell straight on top of Yukiko, while Kanji outright lost his footing and Yosuke almost fell, as well.

What was scarier, however, was the fact that the hole closed itself right after Chie's legs were pulled from it.

What would have happened if she was still stuck there...?!

...

...

Yu did not plan on stopping, and charged forward with his sword in hand, infusing it with electricity. Right as he got within striking distance, he swung his weapon on a mighty horizontal slash, thundering through the bear's hide and making it bleed dark ichor. That was just the beginning of a barrage of slashes, which rocked the Shadow's body to and fro and painted the ground black.

He just couldn't think of anything else. And he couldn't stop, either.

If he did, he knew he was going to start thinking about what he was doing.

So he just closed his eyes and kept slashing away, losing himself in the rhythm of his flurry of slashes, pushing forward at each strike.

...

...

Yosuke saw his partner's charge, and knew something was wrong with him. What happened back when the two fought in the riverbed must have been happening then, too...

He needed to go there and stop him at that moment. He completely understood the rage Adachi must have inflicted upon him, but he couldn't afford to let his partner go astray like that...

Hanamura made a dash towards the two, following the trail of black blood on the ground...

Before he saw the ichor rising up in a row in the form of deadly, black ice spikes.

Holy shit!

His immediate reaction was to hop to the side, to avoid the possibly lethal hazard.

Before the relief could hit him, however, he noticed Yu had stopped attacking...

And was still above the trail of bloody ice.

... Shit!

"Yu!" "Senpai!" "Yu!" "No!" "Holy shit!" Yosuke's scream blended in with the team's.

The leader had halted in his tracks, struck by the spikes coming from underneath him. He wasn't ready for that.

While the whole party stared in terror, Yosuke was set into motion, breaking into a mad dash towards his friend's aid, and Yukiko summoned her persona, despite the orders to stay away from the fray.

She couldn't stand staying on the sidelines, anymore. She had went there with a purpose, and Hell if she wasn't going to at least try to help Yu.

Amaterasu sent a streak of flames along the ground, to melt the trail of spikes, and proceeded to cast a Diarahan to try and heal Narukami. Hanamura saw it and readied his knife and card midway through his run, to summon Susano-O and get his own, weaker Diarama in.

...

...

Blood stopped trickling down Narukami's wounds as the spells made effect, but the pain was still present. And to top everything off, he saw Teddie's head flip back to the place where it was, with a grin more feral than it'd ever donned.

It didn't take long for it to go back to its routine of attacks. Yu was the only thing in front of it, so it began slashing away with icy claws.

Narukami could barely handle his sword, however, his legs were almost giving out underneath him. He switched to Loki so he could endure the attacks better, but the bear's relentless strikes still rocked him whenever guarded, and drew blood when they connected.

Yu kept changing the direction of his back steps, as he couldn't keep his ground against Teddie's barrage, again. There was no opening to breathe, let alone retaliate.

The constant steps he was taking to avoid the charge quickly reminded him of the holes in the place's floor. He looked back at the ground behind himself...

There was a indeed a hole a few meters away from him. And Teddie was actively pushing him towards it.

Oh, shit...

"Agidyne!" He could hear from afar.

An instant later, he could see a sphere of hellfire exploding on the bear's back. It halted its attacks and made it stagger forward with a growl of pain. Yu tried to follow it up with a slash of his own, but slow and weary as he was, he was forced to hop back once more to avoid a spike of ice that would surely rain down on him.

"Brave Blade!"

Once more, he heard from the group. The sound of Susano-O's bladed ring cutting through the air echoed loudly, until it hit its target. The blade had lodged itself onto Teddie's back, which, once again, stopped its barrage, but made ichor spill to the ground like a waterfall. A horrific scream also followed and blasted Yu's ears like a gunshot, but he couldn't allow himself to care. He was about to finally deal his own slash when Kanji crushed his card to deal his own share of damage to the Shadow.

"Ziodyne!"

The lightning bolt came down and struck true, paralyzing the bear where it stood.

That was his chance...!

Yu gathered all of his strength and took his time to infuse his katana with Loki's almighty energy, to deal the strongest spinning slash he could.

The blade cut and burned clean through Teddie's hide, slicing its head clean off. Black tar followed as the severed part of him splattered on the ground... somehow.

Narukami finally let go of the katana and supported himself with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. After wiping the sweat off his forehead, he looked at the Shadow's half body.

... He'd just decapitated one of his best friends...

...

The more he stared at the monster before him, the more his eyebrows and shoulders lowered.

... He was gonna break down at any given moment, wasn't he?

... But no, he had to hold it together. If the other guys believed that was Teddie's Shadow, then it was alright. All he had to do was swallow his own pain and everything would be alright. They'd keep looking for Teddie, and eventually they'd reach the conclusion that the little guy had to be free and face himself on his own. One day he'd return, right? One day, he'd surely go back to the group with an answer to his existence.

And that was all Yu had to do... Shut the Hell up and let things unfold.

Teddie's body had halted completely. It made no movement whatsoever. It didn't even fall after its head was sliced off...

Hm...

Painful as that'd be, Yu just had to make sure that wouldn't cause trouble, again.

... It was just a fake, after all.

The real Teddie was still out there.

He grabbed his katana and rose up to full height, again, before strolling towards the Shadow's frozen body.

Once within striking distance, he readied his weapon on a reverse grip and raised his arm to impale it...

... But ended up taking a glimpse of the bright yellow eyes opening up inside of the darkness of the costume.

...

...

Yukiko and Yosuke nodded at themselves, then at Kanji, who didn't reciprocate. Probably because he was busy tending to the wounds in his arms.

Hanaruma wordlessly agreed to go to the bleach haired teen's aid, as Chie sat on the ground, still stupefied by what almost happened to her.

Amagi began making her way towards Yu. She was sure he needed all of the support he could get, then. Surely he had learned something by their last rescue mission, and she was more than thankful for having comforted him during those hard times, but she felt the need to be by his side once again.

The way he swung at the Shadow earlier... it was frightening. It was as if he was taking his anger out on their enemy. Which made sense, all things considered, but...

She'd never seen him fight like that. He didn't have a care in the world, all he wanted was to keep wailing away at the fake.

Regardless what the case was, and despite how far she had stood from his affairs in the last days, she needed to close the gap between them once again. She needed to make he didn't feel alone.

As she readied Amaterasu's card for one more healing spell, as if to call Yu's attention and warn him that she was going his way...

She witnessed Teddie's human form jump from the previously empty costume. In a flash, the blonde boy tackled Yu out of his footing. Narukami barely had time to scream, as the humanoid beast carried him some steps forward and plunged itself and the leader of the Investigation team into a hole in the ground.

No mouth was left closed after that.

Especially not Yukiko's.

What the Hell...?! She didn't know what to do... her tongue had curled inside of her mouth due to the scare. It was so sudden...

What shook her out of her daze was Yosuke's shout, as he passed by her on the way to the hole.

And then everyone else followed.

But none of them were in time.

* * *

**Not much to say, this time around. Group battles are hard... I'm concerned about the flow of things, but to adapt it, I'd have to sacrifice a bit of the imagery, I think, so that was the trade off. I'd ask you guys to review, but you never do, so just thank you for reading. I'm Raidou The 16th, and I approve this message. **

**Oh, a few ads, though. Persona 3 Bloodlust and Fallen Messiah, by Nightly7. If you somehow don't read that yet, go to his page right now and check these fics. **

**Alone In The Wolrd, by Changling96.**

**Alright I think that's it. Later. **


	27. Dirty Window

Yukiko hurried over to the hole, her mouth ajar. She knelt down by the edge of the rupture, but couldn't come even close to reaching Yu on his way down. Rather, she just stared down at the dark abyss below, motionless.

Soon, the sound of quick, heavy steps began to fill her ears, along with the group's voices.

"Are you retarded?! Just let it go!"

"You let me go! We gotta save him right now!"

"You're jumping into a bottomless freaking hole, snap the Hell out of it!"

"Yu's in there, we gotta get him out!"

"N-no, Yosuke, don't"

Yukiko finally turned around, to see Yosuke power out of Kanji's grip.

"Shut up!" He shouted at Chie. "We gotta go there, and we gotta go now!"

... "Yosuke's right. We gotta go save him..." Rise pitched in. A tad bit shy, for the statement she'd just made.

Yukiko was still stupefied beyond words.

"There, Rise's got the right idea! I'm heading there, you two can stay here, if you want, I don't give a damn!" Hanamura said as he began to make his way towards the hole with a quick pace.

Kanji, however, clicked his tongue in annoyance and sped forward to swipe Yosuke's feet from under him with a kick. The brunette, who fell to the ground and almost broke his teeth on the asphalt, quickly turned on his back with teeth gritted in anger, even going as far as readying Susano-O's card in his hand before Kanji knelt down on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"You got five seconds to explain what the fuck before I blow you the Hell away from me!" Yosuke snarled.

"And you got three seconds to give the fuck up before I let you go walk yourself into a death trap!" Kanji barked back, and the two locked angry stares.

"One!" Tatsumi began.

Yosuke had a venomous response ready at the two tips of his forked tongue, but the ground beneath everyone began to shake wildly. Chie, who was already standing on wobbly legs, and Rise, who was caught completely off guard, fell to the ground. Yukiko was the only one who remained on her feet, but only barely.

The rattling of the land rocked Yosuke's body, which was still under Kanji's knee. The way his head bounced left and right on the asphalt intensified his headache and broke his concentration on his persona's card.

"W-what's happening...?!" Chie shouted the question. The sound was too chaotic to make something out of. Everything became so loud, all of a sudden, it only served to deepen her daze.

"H-Hell if I know!" Kanji yelled back, finally having it in his mind to get off of Yosuke.

Yukiko couldn't keep her balance much longer and ended up falling to her knees.

...

...

Adachi clutched his head, as if to keep it from falling apart.

What the fuck was going on?!

His eyes flashed all imaginable colors as he tried to take lead of the situation, but it just wasn't working.

The pain was was unbearable. It felt like his skull was being forcefully bent, crushed out of shape, and it also felt like something was being taken away.

His very vision was shaking under the soul shattering pain, that made him roar at the red skies before passing out.

...

...

Adachi's cry rang throughout the whole place and filled the party's ears as the ground underneath them gave away, sending the teens plummeting down, screaming all the way.

Until they hit rock bottom.

...

...

"Ugh..." Yosuke grunted, putting a hand to his forehead and sitting up. His free hand then went straight to his temple, as the headache rattled his skull.

After he blinked a few times, his vision was back to its usual focus and he was able to take a look at his surroundings.

Everyone was unconscious next to him, Kanji being the closest.

He reached into his pocket: the bottle of pills was still there. Thank God it was plastic... after taking one, he checked himself for damage. He was sore all over, but there didn't seem to be anything dangerous. He then turned to Tatsumi to shake him awake...

To no use.

... Was he breathing, though?

Yosuke checked his breath...

Yes, he was.

Hm...

He got up and went to Chie's side, to do the same. And the same was true for her, as well. Then to Yukiko, which got him the same result, and then to Rise.

She didn't need to be shaken, though. She groaned back to consciousness before Yosuke even touched her.

"Rise!" That was his cue to help her sit up straight.

The girl rubbed her eyes before realizing she was in the boy's arms. "Thanks, senpai... What happened...?" She asked, as the brunette let go of her.

"I don't know... We fell from-" He began, then looked up to see if he could find the place he was planning to talk about, only to realize that there was only sky above them. "... Pretty high up there... The rest are unconscious. We need to wake them up, but Yu's nowhere to be seen and Yukiko's out cold, too. You got a revival bead with you?"

Rise checked herself. It'd been a while since Yu passed around the things he bought. She just had a few old items she kept for emergencies, or never used at all.

A firecracker...

Oh, neat. A Traesto Gem.

Two revival beads. She passed one to Yosuke.

What else...

A pinwheel, and... that was it. Funny. She could swear she had at least one snuff soul... she kept patting herself in an attempt to find it.

Meanwhile, Yosuke popped the bead into Yukiko's mouth, and watched her gasp for air while sitting up.

"What happened?!" She asked rapidly in between her shallow breaths.

Yosuke gave her the same explanation he did Rise, while she gradually calmed down. When she did, he didn't even need to ask her: she stood up and summoned her persona to wake Kanji and Chie up. She felt a bit lightheaded, but it was fine.

The two newly awakened got up to their feet, with varying degrees of difficulty. Kanji dusted himself off before rolling his aching shoulder, while Chie ran to Yukiko's side to check her up.

Yosuke left the two girls be for a while, and turned his attention to Kanji, whose wounds were bleeding more than before. Plus, there was a a new cut on his forehead. Shaking his head, he summoned Susano-O to heal him, one Diarama at a time.

After he was done, he went over to the bleach haired teen and scratched the back of his neck. "Kanji, look..."

"'s cool. Don't sweat about it." Tatsumi cut him off.

Hanamura nodded and regained his composure, but was far from happy with himself. He let his anger get the better of him, again... But now that the question 'let's go down there or not?' was solved, there was more space in his mind for people's well being. "hey, is everyone okay?"

Rise stood up and nodded at him. She now remembered where that snuff soul went.

Chie and Yukiko looked at him and nodded, the former rubbing her side. Upon closer inspection, there was a red stain there...

"Chie...?"

"Relax, I'm fine. Yukiko took care of it."

"... Okay." Yosuke nodded, still very much concerned. But frankly, not as much as he'd like to be...

Regardless, he didn't didn't have time to think about it.

"So, we're going forward, right?"

"Well, yeah. Not much else we can do, now. I don't see an exit, at least..." Kanji said, glancing up.

Chie looked at Yukiko, who nodded back.

The latter seemed more determined, but quieter than usual.

And that was saying somethng.

That said... the place felt different, somehow. Quieter...? No...

Before, there was some sort of pressure in his ears that just refused to let go. Now, that was all but gone.

Rise also seemed to have noticed that, since she was deep in thought. Before long, she brought her chin up, her eyes wider than usual.

"Kanzeon!" She called forth, crushing her card.

Everyone looked at her.

...

"Guys, I can see, now!" She exclaimed. "It feels like we're not in the same place, anymore... I can't sense Teddie's Shadow, but I can feel senpai very faintly. He's kinda far away..."

"Any Shadows?" Chie promptly asked.

"... No. Not in this floor... I think there are some in the floors below, though."

"Can you all endure a few battles?" Yosuke asked. He didn't care where he was, he just wanted to get Yu and get the Hell outta there.

People nodded. It was good that the confusion lowered their blood's temperature.

"Alright. Let's try to conserve as much energy as we can. We still gotta help Yu out when we get to him." Hanamura said, inadvertently and informally taking the team's lead.

Yeah, he'd shown how hot headed he could be, but he still felt like calling the shots

With that, they began their quiet stroll through the broken streets of Inaba...

Which were turning stranger and stranger with every step they took. Glances at the scenery became more frequent, as if changed further and further from what they were barely used to.

"What is this place...?" Chie said, looking towards the mirror shards etched into the rising wall of rubble. Her thousand reflections watched her pass them by, waiting to rendered wiped out of existence once she was out of their view.

The same wall formed a corridor around them, as they had seen before, the shards of glass surrounding them along with the concrete. What was different, however, was the fact that the corridor didn't end. It didn't allow them a gaze at the red sky anymore.

What was more: along with the shards of glass, white, opaque tiles began to rise from the walls of debris, as well.

Soon, the straight path went from grey to white, as the glass and ceramic covered the great majority of the place around them. The asphalt was still, present, however.

Yosuke glanced at Rise, to see her releasing a breath she seemed to have held for quite a while. Then at Chie, who was walking near Yukiko. She was apprehensive, verily so. Maybe because of what happened earlier. That must have been horrible... Her eyes were darting around the most, while Yukiko was the second most composed, only after Kanji.

As his eyes ran across the group, he caught a glance of himself in one of the bigger shards of glass.

And halted immediately.

Rise noticed that and stopped next to him. "... What's wrong, senpai?"

His eyes remained fixated on the shard as he clumsily tapped her shoulder, then pointed at the thing. "Can you... sense any Shadows?"

She tilted her head. "No. Why...?"

Everyone had stopped to pay attention, by that point.

"The mirror... my eyes are yellow there." Yosuke said.

Kujikawa then got in front of him and looked at the same piece of glass as him. Sure enough, her eyes were yellow, as well.

"... That's weird. I don't sense any Shadows, here..." She said, and everyone gathered at their place.

"There's no danger, right? I think we should keep going." Yukiko opened her mouth, for a change.

Yosuke stood straight up again: He'd curved himself down a bit to look into the mirror, and hadn't even noticed. "You're right." He answered.

"We should get going."

* * *

**Done. The downward spiral continues. Things are surely happening. :P **

**Guest: I should be thanking you for the support, dude. I'm really, really glad you're enjoying the fic. I'll try to keep it coming to the best of my ability. Thanks, again. **

**Now's the time when I'll need feedback the most. I'm coming up with stuff left and right, and I really need to know how I'm doing. So, please. also, thanks for the people who helped me come up with the details for this new place. Props. **

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**Well, critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou The 16th and I approve this message. *thumbs up* Peace. **


	28. All These Things I Hate

Yosuke looked around at the group. That was far from being the first time they got thrown into a situation with no apparent way out. But that didn't mean the atmosphere wasn't heavy, quite the contrary.

There were so many unspoken questions floating around each head, the silence reeked of distrust. And that was slowly boring a hole into his confidence and mood. He felt himself shrink, or rather, crushed beneath the group's and his own doubts. Add the fact that, despite their determination to save Yu, they were clearly sick and tired of that kind of situation. Plus the countless mirror shards staring back from the irregular, uneven walls and a few other, equally important factors, and you got the recipe for his anxiety.

The tiles had fully covered the cave-like walls and ceiling, at that point, but there was still no sign of Yu or Teddie's fake.

Or Adachi, for that matter.

The first floor echoed the sound of their steps. The doors were mirrors, which broke upon being opened. Curved as the walls were, it sometimes felt as if they were moving, like the whole place was alive, or like they were walking inside of a giant creature's throat. At other times, it felt like the whole cave would collapse above them, for how strange the walls looked.

Needless to say, the place didn't help Yosuke's situation in the slightest.

Was that a part of the place they were in before? That broken Inaba must've come from Adachi... did that mean the place they were in was also work of that bastard's mind?

The stairs were spirals, made with darker tiles than the ones on the walls.

Which was probably an indication of how bad visibility was going to be.

The fog there was really, really thick. Even with the glasses, it was hard to see too far ahead.

"Hey, Rise, can you scan ahead?" Yosuke asked. That was a cue for the whole group to stop and take a much as they were in a hurry, the break was very much needed. Everyone was sore, and there was a no telling of when they'd find Yu, or get out of there, for that matter.

Kanji had his usual half scowl, but was tapping his foot impatiently while looking around at the group to see if anyone had the same suspicion as him. It seemed no one did, so he kept quiet.

Rise finally spoke up. "Something's strange about this floor... there are Shadows, but I don't know where they are or how strong they are... also, the layout is pretty straight forward, but..."

"But?" Chie asked.

"I don't know." Rise shrugged as she dismissed her persona. "Senpai's is still pretty far off, and I don't think he's moved... but he's alive. That's all I can gather, for now."

While that wasn't all that reassuring, moving forward was their only choice. Yosuke watched Chie slump her shoulders at the response she got before she cast a glance at the path before them. "I just hope Yu-kun's okay..."

The group resumed their walk, and eventually reached a door at the end of a corridor. It was the only was forward, so Yosuke opened it.

And he wished he could unsee what he saw.

His chin dropped and his eyes widened when he set sight upon no one other than himself, tied to a tall cross and unconscious. The copy's head hung low, so much its hair was covering almost his entire face.

When everyone laid eyes on the figure, they were rendered speechless.

They didn't even noticed how big the room was. They just stared at the display of... they didn't even know.

To deepen their state of shock, the copy was apparently released from its restraints and was finally free to fall face first to the ground, before it started gathering black tar from god knows where.

"It's gathering Shadows... how can that-" Rise exclaimed, as everyone took a step back, even Kanji. But it didn't take long for the bleach haired teen to try and take reins of the situation.

"Rise, stay back!" He said, cutting her off. "Everyone, look alive! Yosuke-senpai!"

Tatsumi's roar snapped the interim leader out of his daze.

"You're the one supposed to be saying that kinda thing! Act your part!" Kanji finished.

Yosuke then close his mouth and grasped his heavenly knives tighter, as the copy grew bigger and began to take a different shape.

A form all too familiar to him, and one he never wanted to see again.

The same faceless ninja riding a camouflaged frog appeared before the group.

But how...?

Hanamura shook his head. No time to think about it.

"Sorry, Kanji, you stay back, as well, attack when I give the cue. I'll take the front line! Chie, come with me! Yukiko-san, stay with Kanji."

Chie followed his advice, but was also puzzled. How did he come up with a plan so quickly?

"You know that monster?" She asked, already hopping on her spot by his side.

"That was my Shadow. I know it like the palm of my hand. But just to make sure: Rise, scan that thing!"

"On it!" Kujikawa replied, as the monster materialized the tip of its gloves, completing its existence. It then immediately began gathering the wind around itself. Thrusting its hand forward, it sent a mighty gale towards the party.

However, Yosuke was already on the move. He quickly pulled Chie by the wrist towards himself and shielded her as he summoned his persona to stand in front of Kanji. Yukiko had to summon her own persona to endure the pain of the harsh gales, which still hurt.

The brunettes then broke apart from each other and began their offence: both summoned their personae, one to hurl ice shards, and the other to send a soaring ring blade at the Shadow's direction.

A few ice spikes lodged themselves into the monster's legs as it hopped largely to the side, far more swiftly than what Yosuke remembered.

Maybe because it now had room to move, contrary to how things were in that cramped up liquor store.

Yosuke and Chie braced themselves as the huge Shadow rebounded and began advancing towards them, shaking the land every time its paws collided with the ground to propel it forward.

"Go, Suzuka Gongen!"

Chie tried to raise a wall of ice in front of the charging monster, but it simply powered through it like thin wood, scattering ice everywhere.

"What...?" She said, already on the move to dodge the behemoth's pouncing charge. She and Yosuke scattered and dodged to different sides, getting out of harm's way.

However, the monster kept going, now heading towards Kanji and Yukiko.

Judging by how easily it powered through the ice and how Yosuke didn't even seem to think of casting wind, the two backliners decided to try their magic.

"Persona!"

"Agidyne!"

They shouted. Amaterasu sent a sphere of hellish flames with deadly aim towards the Rider's face, making it reel back on the Frog's back.

Then the thunder god made lightning rain from above, striking the monster in such way that its whole two bodies shook, electricity coursing through its mass.

Just then, Rise confirmed their suspicions: The Shadow was weak to electircity, strong against ice, drained wind and was neutral to fire. Physical attacks worked fine, too.

"Be careful, though! It's really fast, don't let you guard down." She finished her report.

Yosuke heard it while running towards the Shadow. He was quick to thrust his knives on its hind leg to climb on its back. It didn't take him more than two steps to get within striking range, and upon doing so he slashed the Rider's back, earning an unearthly roar of pain from the beast.

As the paralysis from the shock ceased , the monster began to struggle to get the damned human off of it. The Rider tried to backhand Yosuke, who had to dive to the side to avoid the strike.

As it turned out, though, there was no ground for him to dive onto: the creature's back wasn't wide enough. So he had to plunge one of his knives on the monster's side to keep from falling to the ground. He felt the Frog wince from the pain as he tried to climb back up to its back, but when he did, he was in front of the Rider.

It wasted no time winding up a sonic punch as soon as Yosuke got within its radius of action. The brunette couched under the strike and almost lost his balance when he felt the Frog underneath him shake.

"Amaterasu!" He heard from afar.

Yukiko had taken action and hit the lower monster with a powerful fireball. Even Yosuke, himself felt the heat.

That was his chance.

He stepped forward and started to slash at the Rider's body with his knives, drawing out black tar at each strike.

The monster reeled with each blow, until the Frog began to pounce towards someone, which made Yosuke lose his balance and fall to one knee.

Big enough of an opening for the Rider to grab him, wrapping both hands around the boy's torso and restraining both of his arms. He screamed and kicked, but nothing freed him from the iron grasp.

Meanwhile, Yukiko was running out of the way of the Shadow, and it was quickly catching up to her, until Suzuka Gongen slashed at its leg, earning a roar from the Frog.

Having enough, the Rider threw Yosuke to the ground like a rag doll.

The brunette fell very wrongly on his side, and he screamed in pain, as he felt something crack out of place.

"Agh!" He rolled around, clutching his unmoving arm.

"Yosuke!" "Yosuke-kun!" "Yosuke-senpai!" The girls shouted, Rise's voice echoing inside everyone's head, as Chie and Yukiko ran to his aid.

Kanji, however, was still focused on the Shadow. Now that Hanamura was finally away from it, he could try to make lightning come down on it again, specially since it was winding up that damned wind attack again.

"C'mere, Take Mikazuchi!" He roared, readying his summoning card.

But little did he know that wasn't the same wind attack.

The Rider joined its hands, and fog began pouring out of the Frog's mouth... mask... front, quickly spreading around it.

Or was it smoke...?

That caught Kanji by surprise, but he didn't hesitate for longer than two seconds, before summoning his persona. It appeared and brought a Ziodyne from above...

But the fog kept spreading and spreading, eventually enveloping the area.

Not a sound came from the Shadow. Kanji assumed it'd moved outta the way of the attack. Only Yosuke's yells of pain could be heard.

"Rise! Where's that damn thing?!" He asked, after clicking his tongue.

"It's moving, but the fog is... I think it's climbing up a wall... It's readying an attack now! Kanji, look out, it's aiming at you!"

Eh...?

Tatsumi then heard a sharp whizzing sound. On instinct, he hopped backwards.

Only to see a massive wind razor collide with the ground he was just standing on.

"Whoa!" He yelled with wide eyes as the wind lifted the fog on the spot, revealing the scar the attack left on the ground, along with biting at his skin.

Holy shit, that woulda torn him apart!

"Get ready, there's another one coming!"

What?!

Kanji began running as soon as he heard that. The sound of a blade cutting the air filled his ears again, and he immediately dived forward.

Too bad he was just a tad bit too slow.

While he was still in midair, the attack landed and exploded into a wind burst right by his side, and forcefully threw him to the side. He crashed with a thud, his mind rocked, as he was completely thrown out of his momentum, and the dizziness was quick to blur his vision. He couldn't even assess how many cuts he got from that.

"Garudyne!" He heard, but took a while to understand. It seemed Yosuke was out of his mind, as well, if he wanted to hit the monster with...

The fog created by the monster dispersed, as the twister began to fade away in the middle of the battleground.

And the monster was finally visible: halfway towards the ceiling, it was glued to the wall like a gecko. The Rider had huge ninja stars on its hands, akin to Yosuke's previous persona Jiraya's, but were made entirely of wind. It soon crossed its arms as the Frog began 'crouching' as if readying for an upside down leap.

Hanamura only had one chance. He kept Susano-O out and used a Masukukaja, but it was mostly for himself as he narrowed his eyes on the beast, sending his guardian at high speed towards it for better aim.

The Frog then launched itself from the wall towards Kanji, aiming to completely crush him.

As the Rider raised its arms to throw both wind stars at its target in mid air, Yosuke commanded his persona to attack.

"Brave Blade!"

The slayer of Orochi kicked his ring blade at mach speed towards the monster. It made a curved trajectory in the air and met its target's side without fail.

The blade opened a gash on the monster's side as it lost the power on its hands and began to fall to the ground.

Kanji had to scurry out of the way of the falling behemoth's crash landing, and his legs almost gave out underneath him as he tried, but he managed to avoid the hazard. The land shook as it fell on its side, the Rider bouncing off the ground as the Frog ground to a halt.

Tatsumi then turned around and shook his head, before biting back the pain from his cuts and bruises to finish this battle once and for all.

"Suck it!" He said, summoning his persona, who appeared and dash forward to stab the Rider's chest with its lightning blade, impaling it to the ground, before it made a bolt crash into the massive sword, sending an unimaginable amount of volts through the Shadow's body, making it convulse more and more until its skin began to rip and let black ooze escape.

Yukiko and Chie eventually joined in, one sending a fireball and the other sending her persona to cleave and hack at the downed monster until it was completely returned to tar amidst groans and roars of pain.

As it melted away, Kanji dismissed his persona and panted hard, supporting himself on his knees as the pain kicked back into is nerves. He also heard Yosuke groan incessantly while the girls tried to take care of him, but didn't seem to be having much luck, granted the yelp Yukiko released.

There was a shard of broken glass on the ground where the Shadow once was. He didn't know what it was, but he went and grabbed it. If the other trips told him something, it was to keep the strange stuff. Then, he turned around and went towards-

Oh.

That was why.

Yosuke's shoulders were very uneven. His right arm was very low, compared to his left one, even though he was sat on the ground. It seemed he'd dislocated his limb.

Did he do all that work with his persona while in that condition...? Damn...

Yukiko couldn't even look at Yosuke's state, while Chie was clueless on what to do. Rise came back into the room, and she wasn't disgusted like Yukiko, but she surely kept her distance. Maybe because she also didn't know what to do.

Tatsumi eventually approached the guy and squatted by his side. He looked at the way his shoulder was bent and clicked his tongue. "Hey, can you move it?"

"Ugh! No..." Yosuke winced. Apparently he tried to test the theory. "Not at all."

Okay, it was gonna come down to that. "Try to lay flat on your back."

"What?!"

"Just do it!" Kanji demanded.

Yosuke eventually obeyed. Tatsumi folded his arm and rested it on the leader's chest. "Okay, now breathe. This is gonna hurt, but not for long, okay?"

"The Hell do you mean...?"

"Trust me, I'm gonna pop your shoulder back into place."

"How?!"

Kanji then took hold of his wrist and grabbed his elbow, before pulling Yosuke's arm slowly but steadily.

What also increased slowly and steadily was the intensity of the brunette's scream, as he felt his joints grind together.

Until there was a clunk.

And his shoulder was back into place.

The pain was still there, but was significantly less mind shattering, too. Yosuke immediately retracted his arm as soon as it was back, and noticed that he regained its movement.

"Try to not to strain too much. I dunno if I can put it back twice." Kanji said, as he stood back up. He saw Chie raising a block of ice on the ground with her persona and took off his jacket.

"He's gonna need some ice, right...?" She asked, as she kicked the block, knocking a chunk off of it.

Kanji then took the chunk and put it in his jacket, before stepping on it to crush the ice further. "Here, leave this on your shoulder." He gave the makeshift ice pack slash sling to Yosuke. "You got painkillers, right? You shou-"

Yosuke didn't even wait for Kanji to finish his sentence before fishing for the bottle and popping two pills into his mouth.

"... that. Just don't go overboard, man..." Tatsumi finished.

A brief moment of silence followed as Yukiko and Rise regained their composure and joined the group in the middle of the room.

"So... now that's dealt with, can we... please get some healing? I'm kinda bleeding here." Kanji said.

Yukiko finally averted her eyes from Yosuke on that notice, right when the brunette was about to speak up. "Ditto. I'm aching all over..."

Amagi nodded and summoned her persona along with Hanamura, but she knew she was going to do most of the work.

On a few minutes, no one was bleeding anymore. The pain was still present, but faint, and even Yosuke's swollen shoulder had greatly diminished in size.

"Thanks, Yukiko-san." The leader said, standing up again. He noticed she was a bit out of it and took half a second to acknowledge what he said, but she eventually smiled and nodded.

"Shall we move on, then?" She asked. No one objected to the idea.

But Yosuke was still troubled.

Although... he guessed he wasn't gonna get the answer to his questions soon, was he?

* * *

**Aaaand cut. Welp, that's it. One of the bigger chapters, if I'm not mistaken, so... yeah. Its got that going for it. And yeah, another battle. And a very different one, if I might add. I don't think I ever wrote a Shadow battle, at least not like this. And I just noticed how balance this team is: They got all of the elements on deck. No, I didn't not plan it with this in mind. Anyway, the downward spiral goes on and on. **

**Guest: Glad you enjoyed it. o/ Hope you enjoy the rest of this crazy journey, too. Thanks! **

**Again, this is when feedback is crucial, because I really wanna know if what I'm coming up with is cool or not. **

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**Persona 3: Fallen messiah, and Bloodlust, by Nightly 7.**

**Persona 3: Alone In The World, by Changling96. These fics are on fire, and you should totally read them.**

**Moth Into Flame, by Metallica. It's not a fic, but it's a song so kick ass, I don't even know. **

**Also, shoutouts to cotton candy for being fluffy af!**

**Well, critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou The 16th and I approve this message. *thumbs up* Peace.**


	29. Immitation Of Life

Yu's sword was buried hilt deep into the stomach of his opponent, who let out little more than a yelp in pain.

"I know who you are... I know what you're here for, and I know how true your words are. I am every bit what you said. However..."

The blade was then twisted, as he finally looked up to stare straight into his enemy's yellow eyes.

It disgusted him to see how better his Shadow looked, compared to himself, at that moment.

"I don't want you. You're the part of me I want to forget that exists. It's because of you that..." His voice quivered hollowly for a second. "That everything slipped away from me!"

The copy stared down at Narukami's battered frame. He was at length scarred, from thought to body: reduced to a husk, a shell of what was soon to fade away. His left arm had bent out of its shape and his midsection was badly gashed and bleeding, the wound leaving a trail of blood at his every step.

But he would not stop. Not at a battle. Not at a wound.

Not against his Shadow.

Not against his friend.

Teddie's body lay motionless by the wall, black blood trailing down his chin, washing away the red from the bites. His previously white suit then resembled the TV World's sky, red and black, along with being largely torn.

He was not getting up.

Another one slipped right through his fingers.

"I won't let you into my mind, anymore... Nothing will escape my grasp..." Yu looked at his Shadow's solid yellow eyes with a hatred he failed to show through his features, as much as he willed it to. Rather, his face matched the copy's in its unnatural impartiality.

He knew that. He felt that. That enraged him.

"Never again!" He roared, powered by the hate and anger rising up to his throat as he swiped his sword to the side with his only good hand, cutting through half of the Shadow's midsection.

Black tar stained the asphalt as the doppelganger staggered back and stared at the original.

"Huh... you say that as if you you even had the option of accepting me. Ironic..."

Yu would have shown confusion, if he could.

"You say you won't let anything escape, but you can't even keep yourself from leaving you... Pathetic, through and through.

Even as we speak, I can feel it. The end... of both me and you. You're slowly giving in. Soon you'll be beyond repair, and you know it to be true."

The Shadow cracked a pained laugh through its blank face as it dropped to a knee, not able to support its own weight anymore. "So, you broken toy, let me be the one to say this...

You are not me, anymore."

It said, before looking up and cracking a grin so condescending and self assured, it... it...

There was an anger beyond violence and words rising up within Yu, as he lunged forward with a scream and thrust his sword through the Shadow's mouth, impaling it by thrusting his sword into the asphalt behind the damned thing's head.

Staring down at his deed, Narukami didn't know what to think. His mind drew a blank as he pulled his sword back.

... Broken toy, huh?

The words echoed time and again in his empty mind.

He went to Teddie's body and pulled it by the hair, dragging his deceased friend away.

* * *

"Hey, Kanji."

"Hm?"

"Where did you learn how to do that?"

"What? Putting your shoulder back, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Both Ma and my old man had to reallocate my shoulder a few times, back then. Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?"

"You kidding? Of course it does." Yosuke replied with a laugh as he rubbed his shoulder and looked at Rise, expecting a result from her scan. She was still working on it.

Kanji looked away from the brunette. "Man up, boy..." He said aloud.

"Huh?" Hanamura was slightly puzzled. Was that directed at him?

"Uh... oh, no it's nothing. Sorry." Tatsumi replied. Rather vacantly, the leader might add.

"Hmph..." He threw the tall teenager a sidelong glance. Yosuke could swear the guy got weirder every time you looked at him... from the new ability to calm down, to the random strands of black hair. Eventually, he allowed his attention to move away from his underclassman.

Rise then dismissed her persona. "Senpai's closer, now, but not in this floor. He still hasn't moved. I sense Shadows in this floor, though..."

Yosuke sighed. That would be a problem.

"We can try to run, right?" Yukiko pitched in.

Kanji looked at her, but decided against saying anything.

"Yeah. We need to be ready for anything, though. I don't think we'll be able to run every time." The leader replied.

Amagi looked a bit downtrodden, but nodded. Just like that, they resumed their walk through the strange cave.

The only thing that changed from the floor above was the person to break the silence in the long corridors.

"So... was that really your Shadow, Yosuke?"

What was Chie talking about? Of course it-...

Wait.

"Yeah. You never did see my Shadow before, huh...?" Hanamura thought aloud. In fact, none of the people in that group had seen his Shadow. Thank God it didn't spout any of the things from back then...

But then again, they were his friends. He shouldn't have been afraid.

"Yeah. What did it tell you, back then? I'm kinda curious..."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, tell us, Senpai." Rise asked, tilting her head in the most persuasive way possible. "You saw all of ours, that's so not fair..."

Even Yukiko threw a curious look at him.

... Goddammit.

"Well..."

...

"So yeah. Basically I was just in for the thrill and because of jealousy..." Yosuke said, looking straight forward to avoid people's eyes. "Saki's death was just an excuse for me to try and play hero."

Everyone looked at him, but none knew what to say.

Chie was specially speechless. Not because she was mad or anything, but because only then she realized how little she knew him.

Even though they got along very well, that subject had never been touched on, he'd always kept it to himself. Only thing she knew was that Saki disliked him... and that was it. He also used to steer the conversation away from her insecurities, as well, but even though she didn't know why, she was never upset by it.

She couldn't say that was the first time she saw him so weak, no.

But that was surely the closest she ever felt to him. Granted, a small part of her wished that pleasure was all for herself, but that was okay.

Yosuke caught a glimpse of the concerned furrowing of her eyebrows, then at everyone else.

"... But I'm okay, now." He started. "A lot of that has been dealt with, already, thanks to you guys. If it wasn't for you all, I wouldn't have moved an inch... specially you, Chie." He said, turning towards the girl.

"Hm?"

"You helped me get through a lot, believe it or not. From our training to our talks... even the way you protect Yukiko made me move forward. I was't kidding when I said you were a friend I didn't wanna lose, so... thanks a lot for that." He finished, averting his eyes again.

Chie looked at him. She couldn't believe how much he kept inside. Although... he had Yu. The guy probably knew all of his problems.

But why was she so baffled, even if he kept everything from him?

Maybe because she was able to help, even without knowing all there was to him?

Yeah, that was likely it.

It took her a while to notice just how far her smile stretched. Just then, she felt how important she was to him, and, consequently, vice-versa. To know that she had people who could make her feel like that... Not only him or Yukiko, but everyone else...

She thought for fraction of a second.

No. It wasn't everyone that could make her feel like that.

Yosuke looked at her red cheeks, but looked away again when he noticed she caught a glimpse of his eyes.

His glance snapped her to her senses, somewhat. "No problem!" She finally replied to him, punching his arm lightly. "You owe me a beef bowl, though."

"Ow!" The leader rubbed his hurt shoulder. "Dammit, Chie!"

I said 'somewhat'.

She gasped. "Oh crap, I'm sorry!"

Rise, who had been looking at the scene with an amused smile until now, chuckled. "Oh, I know just how you can apologize to him, Chie-senpai."

"R-Rise-chan!" The brunette pouted, looking at the red head, flustered as she'd never been.

Yukiko, who was walking by the idol's side for a change, cracked up. "You're redder than Kanji when when he..." She paused, but laughed in between her words to disguise the big landmine she had just dodged. "... chased us at the shopping district back in May."

"What do I have to do with anything?" Kanji asked.

Rise joined Yukiko in her laugh as Satonaka and Tatsumi turned way for different reasons.

Chie because of the incessant teasing.

And Kanji because of Amagi's lack of tact. She had to stick salt in his wounds... yeah, he noticed what she was going to talk about, and he appreciated the fact that she at least refrained from saying what she wanted, but... the damage was already done.

He sighed to himself as he looked up at the path before them, disconnecting from the conversation.

Yosuke looked at the bleach haired teenager, who was visibly upset. What was up with him...? That little moment of confusion ultimately worked out for him, because it washed the red away from his cheeks, if only slightly.

The walk continued with the light atmosphere created by the small talk, but it was slowly killed by Kanji's infectious silence.

Soon, they reached another door at the end of a corridor.

"There is a Shadow in there... everyone ready to run...?" Rise warned.

People nodded. Yosuke looked at the jacket actin as a sling, then tried to move his shoulder. Figuring that it'd only hinder him, he chose the future pain of removing it before casting a Masukukaja. After handing Kanji the wet jacket, he rolled his shoulder once. "Alright, I'm ready."

Everyone felt a little lighter, so they felt confident enough to follow Hanamura in.

With no more delay, he decided to break the mirror to give them entrance into the hall.

It was as big as the last floor's, and much like before, there was a huge cross standing in the middle of the room.

Only this time, Kanji was the one tied to it.

The bleach haired teenager scrutinized the copy with narrow eyes. Its hair was fully bleached and slicked back, and it was wearing the school uniform the way he used to.

Hm...

Yosuke thought about giving the command to leave it behind at once, but once he saw Kanji's still observation had contaminated the group, he chose to watch what they were going to do. Curiosity seemed to have gotten the better of him, as well.

The copy remained tied to the cross, motionless. It didn't show any sings of falling down like Hanamura's.

Tatsumi eventually went to the cross to see if he there was anything of notice on the copy's person, and sure enough, it held another mirror shard, much like the one he found after Yosuke's Shadow faded away.

People looked confused as he went to get it, but he explained that they could be useful in the long run, somehow. Not wanting to dispute it, they kept going their way, very much glad that Kanji's Shadow didn't go berserk for some reason.

They were but one step closer to Yu.

* * *

**Cut. Welp, how was it? A breather, for a change, not sure how that came out since, you know, lighter scenes aren't really my forte. But you know what? The downward spiral continues. **

**Metal Vile: Thank you. Glad you think it's different from the others, that is definitely one of my objectives. :P Also, nice to see you enjoy it, hope you like the rest of the chapters, as well. Cheers. o/ **

**Guest: You're welcome. In fact, thanks for accompanying and supporting the fic, thus far. o/ **

**Oh, look. This has 50 reviews, now. Neat. **

**Now, ads:**

**Persona 3: Fallen messiah, and Bloodlust, by Nightly 7.**

**Persona 3: Alone In The World, by Changling96. These fics are on fire, and you should totally read them. **

**Welp, you know the drill. Critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th and, uh... *reads script* Hol' up. Did I forget something...? Oh, yeah. **

**"In Soviet Russia, Shadow denies Yu." **

**There. Now I approve this message. Later! *walks off to fire whoever wrote that joke* **


	30. How The Story Ends

**Sup. Uh, you might be wondering about the chapter title. That's basically what this is. As off now, I'm dropping this fic. :T I had everything planned, and things were gonna start going down really, really hard in the next few chapters, but I don't feel like writing it, anymore. I don't even remember what I was writing it for, if it was for the feedback, if it was for reviews, if it was for myself, if it was just for the sake of writing something cool... this doubt is kinda frustrating, specially when I couldn't meet any of those expectations. Since the story is pretty much planned, though, I decided to post this. **

**Beyond this line, is the whole plot for the fic starting from chapter 29... which is what I THINK I have written, thus far. Spoilers, but... I might not write the fic ever again. If you, for some reason, still feel like not being spoiled you (are very strange) can scroll until you see the line again. It's divided in arcs, by the way.**

**_Spoiler line_**

* * *

**1) Magatsu Mandala arc:**

After they find Kanji's cross, the investigation team keeps heading down what's supposed to be Magatsu Mandala, finding the other crosses of the party member, including Naoto's. That only feed's Kanji's curiosity, but he doesn't share it with the group. The last cross they find is Yukiko's, which falls just like Yosuke's and becomes Shadow Yukiko.

It goes berserk and traps them in the room. A battle starts, where Yukiko has to absolutely shine to protect Chie and Yosuke at times since his arm is kinda not well, yet. The four of them actually work together to defeat the Shadow, which grants them a sense of unity, again, renewing their faith in saving Yu. They proceed forward, even though Yukiko's SP is running really, really low from all the work she had to put in since they fell down the hole.

They eventually reach the room where Yu's Shadow is lying on the ground. They get ready for a battle, but soon realize it's battered almost beyond recognition. It laughs on their faces and explains that Yu is after the room beyond them, so close, but so far gone, already, along with telling them that the Teddie they fought was very much the real one, and was waiting for them, as well. It then fades away due to Yu letting go of himself, uttering "So far, no matter how close".

The group proceeds forward to find a copy of the Poster Room which serves as the entrance to Magatsu Inaba, only Teddie is hanging from the noose. Yu had left him there, as if to say that it was his own fault for ending up like that. After Rise almost collapses, she tells the group that was indeed Teddie, and that he was dead. She couldn't tell before because Adachi was blocking her senses.

After weeping, asking why a thousand times and almost breaking (mainly Yosuke), Kanji gets tired of his weak ass shenanigans and acts as the leader once again, pushing them forward and asking Rise to scan ahead. She couldn't sense Yu, but there was nowhere else to go, the end of that world was right there.

Having nowhere else to go, they enter the final room and find Yu there, sat on the ground with his katana by his side, apparently just waiting for them to come. He gets up and turns towards them, showing no signs of being a Shadow. In fact, he's showing the same signs that Yosuke had already seen, back when they fought in the Riverbed. So Yosuke tells the group that was Yu, alright, and they'd need to snap him out of that, just like he did before.

(Yu had let go, and as seen in the last chapters, he had started pinning the blame on everyone and everything around him, which triggered him to step out of himself and let his anger take full control. That was all he was at that moment, his own anger, much like what happened during the battle against the fallen angel. Yosuke would have know just how powerful Yu was in this state if he had stayed conscious during the battle against Lucifer.)

Hurting Yu in that state took more than just strength, as he seemed to be completely other than himself. He didn't stop, even with the wounds he already had. He was hesitating at times, and during those brief, rare moments, Rise could sense Yu was still there, and Yosuke pushed them to keep fighting until he was brought back, but in the middle of the fight, Yukiko runs out of MP and fails to keep Narukami at bay, eventually catching a thrust to her heart.

That leaves everyone baffled, specially Chie. Yosuke collapses to his knees and Rise screams in everyone's ears, while Kanji sees that Yu had frozen in place as he did that, and power charges to get both Chie and Yosuke on his shoulders before getting the Hell outta there, kicking Rise into running gear, as well. There was no way they were beating Yu, in that state, much less snapping him out of whatever he was high on (touching the Absence).

They eventually escape using that Traesto Gem Rise had, leaving Yu and Yukiko there, which splits the party. Little did they know they didn't only dodge Yu on their way out. Thus starts the next arc.

**2) Twist of Fate: Fool arc:**

Of course the Fool Twist of Fate wasn't gonna be a single chapter.

Upon leaving the television, Yosuke talks about going back to save Yu, somehow. Chie loses her shit even worse and says that she cannot forgive him for killing her best friend. She says that she would help catching Adachi because he was one of the one responsible for this whole situation, but she wouldn't move a finger to save Yu. The discussion intensifies, with Rise joining in on Yosuke's side, while Kanji leaves quietly. Yosuke eventually apologizes profusely for basically roasting Chie in the end, and says that he respects her decision. They'd need time to recover from that, but that wasn't something they had. Chie and Rise go home to finish weeping their tears while Yosuke is summoned to the Sanctuary.

There, he's told that Catherine and Lupa would help bring Yu back, but he'd have to wait until the next day.

The story then shifts back to Yu in the hole, he kicks back into motion after that freeze (which was caused by that little remnant of his conscience) and wanders around, still trying to find something or someone to pin the blame on. While straddling idly along, he's finally found by that Fiend Catherine was chasing back in chapter 24, and you wouldn't guess who it is.

Srnk...

Jason Vorhees.

Look, I'll explain.

Lucifer was harvesting new Fiends through the power of rumors. He knew it'd be a long time until he could be restored to his full, demonic glory, so needed counter measures to persona users, much like Batman needs Cryptonite in case Superman goes nuts. So he spread the rumor about Jason, a demon that could not be stopped and was after the 'masked ones'. His legend was already strong among humans, so he was rather quick to draw out, given the small changes he had to make. Lucifer intended to keep him locked somewhere where he could just use him in case of necessity, but when the fog settled in the real world, he had to leave the task of nurturing the rumor and taming Vorhees to Catherine, and you know how that went.

Basically, if the group had stayed just a bit longer, they were likely to find Vorhees on their way out, and that'd be a major problem for them.

Anyway, Yu, still being a walking juggernaut powered by being his own Anger, manages to knock Jason out, but sustains a lot of injuries. After that, he keeps wandering around aimlessly, bleeding. If the normal Yu was in charge, he would have passed out for sure, if not passed away, but the Anger was still very much alive and keeping his body going. He ends up returning to the room where Teddie was hanging out after clearing all of the shadows in the dungeon.

Adachi then finally wakes up from the mental strain of having the domain of your conscience almost literally ripped out from your brain by someone else. When Yu turned Magatsu Mandala into his own world, that hurt Adachi, really, really bad, so much so, some bits of his own part of the world crumbled (i.e, the hole the Investigation Team fell through). He manages to make contact with Yu, despite not having much control over that part of the world, and starts talking to Yu, along with telling him that he killed his precious girlfriend.

That brings Yu's conscience back. Since the memory was still blurry from that moment, he still refuses to believe that happened and goes to the next room to confirm what he was saying, but he finds Yukiko lying on the floor, dead. The adrenaline rush stops and he finally passes out from his wounds, right by her side, to the sound of Adachi's echoing laughter.

The Mirror then presents itself to Yu as he drifts aimlessly, weeping at his sorrows inside his own mind. He fully explains how becoming Fallen works, and how it could save him from the suffering he was going through, along with explaining what would happen if he, a wild card, became Fallen, all the facets he carried within him would disappear, as well, falling into oblivion. It'd be like they'd never existed, and as such he would be, as well.

To explain that, he takes Yu to the Halls of the Fallen. Yes, the same place Naoya visits in Seasons In The Abyss.

There, the Mirror edges Yu to take a glance into the mirror of another Wild Card, the only one to have Fallen. His name was Atsuro Ishigaki. This part plays out just like Seasons does, only Atsuro has no feelings and simply turns towards on him. Also, The Mirror obliges Yu to fight, so that he'd know just how he'd end up, should he choose to Fall.

Yu loses to Atsuro, who uses a lot of demons as personae and pulled actual Lucifer (his demonic form) as his final persona to win. After that, Yu finally understands how Lucifer lost his Fiends, and when the Mirror gives him the choice of letting go and becoming Fallen, he refuses, saying he must suffer and pay the price for what he's done. Besides, he couldn't allow himself to go to the same place where Teddie was.

After the fight, the fic shifts back to Yosuke, who is at school attending to an assembly about the death of three students (Alice's victims). He also hears that Yukiko was declared missing, and he knows fully well why. School is declared out for a week.

The rumor of the fog being poisonous is also very strong. Many people have fallen ill in the last day, and everyone is panicking.

Yosuke is still torn apart by what happened to Teddie and Yukiko, but he decides he must push through and save Yu because he knows it wasn't really him that did all that, despite resenting what happened. He joins with Rise (who had backed him up in the argument against Chie) and gathers Catherine and Lupa to go get Yu.

They find Jason in their way, already up again. The four knock him down, again and hurry on their search for Yu. When they find him, he's broken and almost passing out, having just returned from the Halls of The Fallen. Catherine promptly heals him, and before even Yosuke can get to him, Rise runs in and hugs him, before kissing him and explaining how he's not alone, along with saying that she wouldn't let go of him.

Okay, here's another thing I kinda have to explain.

The deal about Rise is: she always had a small crush on Yu, but she was always beyond that because Yukiko was with him. You may remember she was having those doubts about the guy and acting like everyone else in regards of Yu having killed Namatame, but ever since Lucifer appeared to her in the Lovers Twist Of Fate, she began thinking that couldn't allow everything to just fall apart.

She began to understand that they were only weak when they felt alone: Naoto felt alone and killed herself, Chie felt alone and couldn't forgive anyone, she, herself, felt alone and lost sight of what was important... even Kanji might have been lonely, as well. She knew deep down that it wasn't Yu doing all that (she scanned the guy and saw nothing in him, the only times she sensed him was when he hesitated/stopped himself to allow them to run), so if you blend in her love for him, the fact that Yukiko was gone, plus everything else, and you have Rise's reason. She just couldn't allow him of all people to be alone, and that was the perfect opportunity for her to claim him as her own.

Back to the story. Yosuke is left baffled for a few moments, before he snaps to his senses and tells them to go back because Yu needs to rest. When they go back to town, Catherine and Lupa split, going back to the Sanctuary. Something is clearly very wrong in town as they go home. That ends the Fool Twist Of Fate.

**3) Adachi hunt arc:**

The next day, Yukiko's body is found hanging from a lamppost in the shopping district, but Yu, Rise and Yosuke don't know that because they're lit out basically the whole day. Well, not really. Yosuke only finds the strength to do something during the later part of the day, when he contacts Catherine and Lupa to see if they could help the group against Adachi, but they can't because they're busy with other things. Rise had decided to go to Yu's house and spend the night there because it must have been Hell by himself. No, they don't 'spend a long time together'.

On the day after, Yu has the second sleep paralysis, this time involving Nanako. I had this one planned for years, now, and I only kept adding details as the plot developed. I planned to have Nanako grip at his arm with a thousand arms during the fight against Kuni No Sagiri, and now I had the excuse of making him feel like that because Rise was sleeping over his arm. It was gonna be a lot of fun to just tamper with that. Anyway, when he wakes up, he decides to contact Chie and Kanji to apologize and maybe get them on the move to go catch Adachi. Chie lashes back at him (she still holds a grudge), and explains what went on while Yosuke and Rise were gone to find Yu.

Turns out, the fog had grown so powerful so quick, a few, more powerful Shadows had already crossed the line between the worlds, and personas could be summoned in the real world. (This is due to the work Adachi had been putting on making Ame No Sagiri stronger by feeding him Shadows. Yes, he is aware of Ame No Sagiri, in this story, because Izanami was watching how Yu was on cahoots with Lucifer and decided that it wasn't fair, so she turned that key on Adachi to even the odds.)

Despite this, she agrees to go put an end to this whole mess, even if it means fighting alongside Yu. Kanji agrees as well, and they enter the TV world to wreck Adachi's stuff.

There, the story is paused for a Chariot Twist of Fate, which had me on a dilemma. This one would only take a chapter like the others, and it would show Chie and Kanji fighting shadows in town, but there were two things I could do with this chapter which would drastically change Chie's future. Scratch that, perhaps the whole fic's future. The plan was to have just Chie and Kanji fighting the Shadow(s), but then it dawned on me: Where were the Shadow Ops in all of this? If they existed, they'd at least end a scout to assess the situation on that foggy town with strong shadow activity. BUT I didn't know whether they existed or not because BL still didn't as much as TOUCH on the matter of Shadow ops. I had no idea how that would play out because of some details, but if that did happen, quite a few things would be altered. I'll touch on the matter of the Shadow ops later down the road, but I'll continue assuming that they don't show up.

After that chapter is done, the focus goes back to the investigation team (or what's left of it), and they reach Adachi to confront him. He does his little speech before the battle begins, during which he slowly becomes possessed by Ame no Sagiri, until he finally goes through that transformation. The battle is hard, but Yu finishes the master of the fog with a Morning Star, courtesy of the Helel he fused in the middle of the battle, just like in the Anime. I kinda liked that scene. If I got cold feet about making him do the fusion, I could always go back and have Yu fuse Helel before confronting Adachi. There was that option, as well.

Anyway, after discussing for a while what to do with Adachi, they decide to leave him there to rot with a broken leg and no SP. They back out of the TV and see that the fog is no longer in town. Chie goes home to resume her weeping streak, and Kanji takes off silently as he always does. Rise, Yu and Yosuke go to the hospital to inform Dojima what happened. After a long discussion about what was may have been right to do, Dojima concedes and accepts what happened, sending the three home. Rise spends the night at Yu's, again, this time they really do it. No I wasn't gonna write details.

Meanwhile, Adachi is found by Jason and killed mercilessly.

**4) Heaven and Hell arc:**

That night, Yu and Yosuke are summoned to the Sanctuary, where Lucifer tells them about the war going on between heaven and his demons, along with saying that their journey wasn't complete, which makes the two really, really mad. He proposes a second test but this time, they'd have to defeat a foe of his. An angel was said to descend from heavens to wreck Lucifer's Sanctuary, and he needed defeating whoever came down. So, in exchange for Yu's and Yosuke's help defeating that angel, he'd tell them who was it that gave Yu his power and kickstarted this whole mess. Almost blackmailing the two with the fact that they had no leads regarding who it was, and that the town's future was in line, Lucifer manages to convince the two to fight for him. He'd call when it was time to act.

Before the two go, however, Yu explains that he knows how Lucifer lost his demons and that he saw them AND the boy that took them away. Lucifer then confirms it and explains a bit of how it all went down. After coming to terms with the fact that there'd be no easy way to build his army and his demonic self again, Lucifer sends them away.

The next day, Rise talks with Yu. Just a breather, kind of a filler chapter where Yu and Rise deal with their troubles by huddling together. I'd try to make it seem like they're addicted to each other. In fact, I think vices were a pretty big part of the characters in this story, but that's irrelevant, now. In sum, they spend the whole day to themselves, trying to ease bit of their pain.

The story pauses for the Emperor Twist Of Fate, where Kanji is shown talking to Naoto's Grandfather a little after her death was announced, along with spending a little while at home thinking about what to do next. That was one of the kickstarters of his change.

The day after that, Rise asks her grandmother if she could stay at Yu's house for a whole while, and she gets the permission. Yu finally goes talk to Kanji about what has been going on with him and, well... this is what the script says about this chapter:

Chapter 49) "Skeletons In The Closet" Friday, December 16th: Rise decides to stay over at Yu's house for a while, with the permission of her grandmother. They talk about the situation, and decide to go talk to Kanji. Kanji was talking to Naoto's grandfather (again), and their deal is exposed. Kanji was the one behind the cancelling of Naoto's death announcement assembly, and he reveals that he would never trust people any more, but not before acknowledging how all those ordeals and losses made him stronger. His hair is shown to be going back to black, and despite holding a grudge against Yu, he tells him that he'd never had become a real man without him. Social Link Rank Ten, Rokuten Maoh unlocked. Rise and Yu go back home, News of the case and the Amagi Inn closing down are broadcast as well as a reminder that Adachi's M.I.A.

There.

The day after, Yu and Yosuke are called to the Sanctuary in a hurry. They'd have to act right there and then, cause the angel had arrived before Lucifer had expected. Which angel, you ask? I was still choosing. Maybe Merkabah, maybe Michael, maybe the four Archangels at once. I had options. They'd also meet the last resident of the Sanctuary, which I was still unsure whether it was Astaroth, Lucifuge or Hitoshura, the latter one being a bit too outlandish.

After dealing with the threat and being promptly cursed by God, everyone 'celebrate' their victory back at the Sanctuary, and Lucifer tells them the deal about Izanami. He had no more tests to make, and he was sure they could beat her. Plus, with the retreat of the angels, Catherine and Lupa would be able to help in the battle against her. After that, Yu and Yosuke go home, but Yu can't sleep, plagued by the questions. Rise wakes up in the middle of the night and finds him in distress. Yu then explains the whole deal to her, and while she doesn't know how, she promises to help any way she can.

The next day goes as follows:

Chapter 53) "Loverman" Sunday, December 18th: Yosuke gets called on a quest to apprehend Jason Vorhees with Catherine and Lupa. He's given a Kuda (things used by devil summoners to store demons, which had become obsolete due to the use of smartphones and the devil summoning program. Fun Fact: Lucifer got those by placing a request on a certain Devil Summoner's office down in Tsukigata Village), since he won't be able to capture the monster by any other means. He asks why Yu wasn't called, and Lucy says it's because he was busy with something else, and would probably take more time to recover. Yosuke then agrees. As he goes into the TV, Yu is shown wasting his day away with Rise, thinking about who to recruit and when to go after Izanami. He talks to Chie, but she refuses to fight with Yu, again. He then hits up Kanji, and the guy simply doesn't believe him, dismissing him completely. Snippets of Yosuke's quest are shown, along with him finding out a bit about demon summoning. Lucifer, in gratitude, offers him another Kuda, only it's one with a Succubus inside. Completely loyal, able to manifest in the real world... exactly for the reason you might be thinking. Yosuke really thinks about taking the offer, but ultimately refuses, believing in the power of his love for Chie.

Yes, the chapters even had names. In fact, I think I can just leave the rest of the script here to explain the rest of the story.

Chapter 54) "The Unforgiven II" Monday, December 19th: Yosuke takes the day to rest, and gets called up by Chie. He goes to meet her, and she explains what's going on: How she can't forgive Yu, and finally, how she feels about Yosuke. She's really torn that Hanamura even tried to defend Yu, based on what he did, and she's really on the verge of hating him, as well, but once they talk it through, they're able to live with their different opinions. Chie kisses Yosuke, but doesn't know whether that feeling will last. She just wanted to get that one taste before her feelings crumbled into frustration. That leaves Yosuke thinking about how things would play out between them, and he begins to doubt whether it'd work out in the end. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Chapter 55) "Implode" Wednesday, December 21st: Yu looks back on the last two days, which were mostly spent at home with Rise. Yosuke decided not to bother the two, since they needed a bit more time. The doubts kept plaguing Yu really hard, and the thunder during the night doesn't help, either. He gets up during the night and grabs an umbrella to go talk to the gas station attendant, and the scene from the game plays out. He goes back to find a worried Rise just turning the corner of the street, looking for him. Yu explains what happened.

Chapter 56) "Pleasures Of The Flesh" Thursday, December 22nd: Yu calls up Yosuke to tell him what transpired, and decide to do something about it that same day. Rise agrees to go, as well, and they set out to the Sanctuary to round up Catherine and Lupa. Lucifer is in the room, for a change, and offers the Succubus again. Yosuke thinks back to the talk he had with Chie, and ultimately accepts the offer, much to Yu's confusion, since Lucifer just offers the tube without explaining the situation. When he questions the demon king, Yosuke also helps him ease his doubts and he eventually goes back to his chair. Lucy wishes them luck and send the four out. They head to the TV world and Rise guides them to Yomotsu Hirasaka.

Chapter 57) "Prince Charming" Thursday, December 22nd: They get to the place and discuss things before going in. During the exploration, Yosuke decides to ask about Catherine, and she decides to disclose her deal: About how her father, Nergal, was killed during the war, and she searched far and wide for a new king of the underworld, eventually even testing Minato (Remember when she appeared in Blood Lust? That was what she was doing), but she found him unfit for the position. Lucifer caught her on her quest and unified the underworld and his domain of Hell, and since he did so without harm, she chose to follow him when he called, thus ending her search and making her a resident of the Sanctuary.

Chapter 58) "Of Wolf And Man" Thursday, December 22nd: Midboss battle, during which Lupa and Yu trigger the fusion spell Pyriphlegeton as Yu uses Vayu. Lupa then recognizes it was good to see his friend, again. Yu asks what the fuck, and he explains the deal: that he's from a reality where the sun corrupted the world and everyone to stone, about AI's and Gale, and how the persona Yu was using was the form Gale assumed to fight. Even though he was free, he never got to see his friend again, since he was so involved in many other tasks as an enlightened being. His current self imposed mission was to help bring balance to the world he was in, right then, and it was the only one he allowed himself the risk of tainting his soul by interfering directly, because this universe's struggle interested him a lot. Nevertheless, he thanks Yu for the opportunity to see Gale again and they continue their journey.

Chapter 59) "Atlas, Rise!" Thursday, December 22nd: They reach Izanami and the battle begins. She's shown to be immortal and impossible to beat just like in the game, but Yu is summoned to the Velvet Room. That time, Igor, Margaret and Lupa are there. Yu asks what the fuck, and Igor explains that Yu's soul in currently in denial of many things, and that it currently can't accept the truth. Yu asks what that means, and Igor replies that he cannot defeat Izanami in his current state. However, that was why Lupa was there. Upon finishing explaining to Yu the deal, Igor asks Lupa if he was sure, and Lupa nods. Igor acknowledges his decision and thanks Lupa for his presence, explaining that never before did he have the honor of having an enlightened being in the Velvet Room, and even Margaret shows her gratitude. Lupa then invites Yu out of the Velvet Room and shows him the orb of sight he had nurtured through his multiple journeys and ordeals, and explains how he is forbidden from sharing it, based on Brahman's law that humans must find their way and seek knowledge by themselves. He continues, saying that he was going to give his orb to Yu, so he could be open to the truth and the path before him. Lupa then gives him the orb, and explains that he'd be returned to the wheel and reincarnated again. Yu asks why he couldn't do it himself and keep his enlightenment, and Lupa answers by saying that one day, he'd like to walk the same path as Yu, himself and his other friends (Digital Devil Saga people), and this quest of his was far from over. Yu asks about how he is going to find the way to the light again, and Lupa says that he's lived a thousand times. His soul will eventually find its way, again. Yu thanks Lupa as he vanishes.

Chapter 60) "Aerials" Thursday, December 22nd: Yu finally sees the truth about Izanami, and uses the orb of sight to unmask Izanami's true form. The battle goes on without Lupa until Izanami uses the thousand curses on Yu, and he falls. Catherine keeps Yosuke from falling, and then the scene cuts to Yu again, as he merges the orb of sight with Izanagi to create Izanagi no Okami, which makes him touch the Absence and become the Truth, instead of his own Anger. He finishes Izanami with Myriad Truths.

Chapter 61) "To The Devil His Due" Thursday, December 22nd: The TV World is turned back to its former glory. Lucifer finally appears in the TV World, now that it's rid of the Fog, and explains that he shall set his domain there. He asks where's Lupa, and Yu explains. Lucifer understands, and says aloud that he'll help Lupa find the light as quickly as possible. Yu asks about that display of gratitude from the demon king, himself, and Lucifer explains that those difficult times taught him a few things. Yosuke asks what he's going to do with the TV World under his control, and Lucifer answers that he would lay low for a while, and use it primarily as a way to create new demons. The three persona users are alarmed by this, but Lucifer explains that his plans only involved the demise of God, no more, no less. Yu has the choice to let it be that way, or face him.

Chapter 62) "Chaos Without" Yu chooses not to give the TV World to Lucifer and faces him. Lucifer uses his angelical archetype again, but goes all out, especially now that he has Catherine by his side. He even uses the Succubus he gave Yosuke to attack. Yosuke is seized during the battle, and Lucifer gives him an ultimatum: Kill Yu and become one of the rulers of Hell, or die. Yosuke spits in his face, refusing to betray Yu, and dies at the hands of Lucifer, triggering Yu's Anger again, which tips the scales on Yu's favor. He kills Lucifer, and Catherine asks for her life to be spared, but Yu doesn't concede. In his Anger, he murders her, as well. His anger only subsides when he breaks down crying again for the loss of Yosuke, and is comforted by Rise. That's the bad Chaos Ending. That promised to be fun...

Chapter 63) "Chaos Within" Yu chooses to let Lucifer take the TV World. Lucy thanks him, and promises not to use his force against humans, but he explains that he'd have to work his demonic, stronger form back from scratch. The orb of sight influences Yu, again, and he suggests that Lucifer strengthen his angelical form, instead, spreading the word that Hell is a Heaven that welcome those who are free. Lucifer laughs, and says that it is an interesting idea, but he could not take it. Yu then threatens Lucifer, saying that if he doesn't, he'd end him. Lucifer then glares back at him and says he'd think about it.

Chapter 64) "Perfect Strangers" Saturday, March 31st/Sunday, April 1st: A brief look on how the town was rebuilding itself, and how life was slowly returning to normal. Dojima returned to the household, still bitter about everything, but calmer. Yu had rarely seen Yosuke since the last time, and none of them heard word of either Lucifer or Catherine. Neither Chie nor Kanji were willing to talk to him either. Rise had also returned to her grandmother's house, and had told him that she was going to take the same train as him, saying she'd go back to the showbiz. He goes to sleep with a heavy head, ready to depart on the next day. He wakes up and spends the day in his room, until Dojima comes knocking on his door to say it's time to go. He takes Yu to the station and thanks him for everything, before being called into duty, again. Yu sets out to the train, but is stopped by Yosuke, Rise, Catherine and Lucifer. Rise had dragged Yosuke along, and the two demons showed up of their own free will. Rise then stands by Yu's side, as Lucifer and Catherine thank them for everything. Yosuke looks at him wordlessly for a while, before releasing a "See you again, partner." Yu completes the brofist, before the two head into the train. That's the canon Chaos Ending.

Yeah, that's how it ends. Now let me go briefly back to the matter of the Shadow Ops. If they were indeed involved, they stay back on town and keep the town safe from shadows while the Investigation Team would go after Adachi. Yu would have to answer some questions eventually, but that'd have to wait until the situation was fully under the knowledge of the higher ups. The other drastic change, was that I had planned for Chie to join the Shadow ops after everything was said and done (which would change her epilogue. Yes, I had those), but I had so little to go on regarding how the shadow ops would work, that I just cast that idea aside.

In the middle of the chapters, I'd cram in as much grieving as I possibly could without it becoming stale, becuase thse were a lot of losses.

By the way, lemme explain the mechanics of Fiends: They are demons who had human emotions or understood, at some point, what it was to be a human, hence why they could brave the hollow forest. It was because they belonged there, just like every other human or Aigis. Lucifer and the other common demons are just products of minds of humans, and minds of humans can sometimes give birth to the minds of other "humans', such as the plumes of dusk, or beings that have human consciences. The concept of Fiends is totally different in any other plot, but I chose to change it for this one. In fact... there was never any distinction between fiends and regular demons other than they were kind of the anarchists of the bunch, or served to carry around the candelabra, in Nocturne's case. Therefore, the Fiend line up of this storyline is very different, but... I don't feel like going into details about that, because I'd have to pick demons just for them to appear once in the story (Atsuro's battle). SO nah.

Speakng of Atsuro, he has a story, and I have that planned, too. He has a whole plot for himself, which is the kickstarter of the whole CW/BL universe, which ends with The End OF The Line.

Well, I think that's that, but I even had some bonus stuff planned. Such as:

Chapter 65) "Pretty On The Outside" Bonus shit Nº1: Thursday, December 22nd: Yu had just been dragged under by the thousand curses, and Margaret presents herself to Yu, challenging him.

Chapter 66) "Strange Kind Of Woman" Bonus shit Nº2: Tuesday, December 20th: Lucifer learns that Mother Harlot is still out there and sends Yu to take care of her.

Chapter 67) "Law Ending" Bonus shit Nº3: Thursday, December 22nd: Alternative ending; Yu intentionally Falls, only to take Lucifer's angelical archetype with him, so Yosuke can finish him off.

Chapter 68) "Sad, But True" Bonus shit Nº4: Sunday, December 11th: The entirety of Yu's battle against his Shadow back in Magatsu Mandala.

Chapter 69) "The Unforgiven III" Bonus shit Nº5: Yosuke and Chie talk it out after Yu departs. They decide to go their separate ways, and Yosuke becomes really glad he chose to keep the Succubus and develops a kinda grim look on people.

Things like that. I even had epilogues ready for the characters.

Yu and Rise would eventually break up, and Yu would just keep going with his life until he reached college, where he'd finally have some ground to stand, instead of just moving around because of his parents. He'd become really bitter about everything that happened and all the issues he couldn't solve, and stress would become a part of his daily life.

Rise's comeback would be successful, but she'd also be haunted by those losses. She'd drown her sorrows in a few vain habits such s shopping and other things, and her routine became more and more empty as time went on.

Chie would either join the police force and be transferred for being too self righteous or she'd join the shadow ops.

Kanji would study his ass off so he could stand on his own two feet. He'd major in business and take the family's store to national level, eventually becoming rich, but cold.

Yosuke would take a similar course, eventually becoming one of the main managers of Junes. That Succubus would become his secretary, and all kinds of rumors would be spread in light of his cold demeanor and the strange aura of the secretary that was always with him.

* * *

**And that's that, I think. I may have made some mistakes, but I don't really care anymore, at this point. Well, if you read that until the end, thank you for the attention. I won't ask you to review as usual because of obvious reasons. So, uh... See you around, I guess. **


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